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St. Louis housing market is hot, despite pandemic

Homes with pools and offices going especially fast

The St. Louis housing market is hot, despite the pandemic. That's great news for sellers and realtors are noticing some new trends in what many buyers seem to want.

People's lives are changing and when it comes to looking for a home, their wish list is changing too. With more people working from home now, buyers want a home office  More buyers are also looking to see what's in the backyard. Pools are now a huge selling point, which wasn't always the case, according to The Brad Elsner Group at Keller Williams Realty.

Brad Elsner said, “We do have 4-5 buyers looking for pools. In year's past, when my dad was in real estate for 53 years, he always said pool was negative thing.”

But not anymore, now that people are spending more time at home.

Blake Elsner said, “People don’t want to travel so if they're looking for a new investment…here’s a pool. If we have to stay at our house, it’s like being at a small resort in a sense.”

Despite the pandemic, it is a seller's market. And homes with a pool and an office seem to be going especially fast in St. Louis.

“Oh no question about it,” Brad said.

Realtors are seeing many homes with multiple offers.

Brad said, “This is crazier than 2005, 2006, 2007, prior to 2008. I thought that was crazy. I didn’t know any better. I was fairly new back then. When people ask me what the price of their house is, I say, ‘I don’t know, whatever you think. We'll let the market determine.’”

Blake said, “Our June 2020 had more closed sales than June of 2019.”

Brad added, “I guess it's the old supply and demand. There's just not a lot out there.”

Blake pointed out that millennial buyers are part of the reason why the market is hot right now.

Blake said, “I would lean towards millennials. A big part of what’s driving this market.  That buyer pool under $250,000 is just huge. As you start to get up, it shrinks but it does shrink that much.  You’re still seeing million dollar houses going under contract every day in St. Louis.”

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