ST. LOUIS — What’s the 2020 version of a boom-town? A Zoom town: a housing market getting a boost thanks to remote working and St. Louis is on the map.
“To our surprise, it has been way over anything we could have predicted,” said Mary Krummenacher, real estate agent with Re/Max Results.
The latest report Krummenacher was able to pull from the St. Louis Association of Realtors compares July 2019 to July 2020—and shows pending sales up 18% and home sale prices up more than 11%.
“It's not just the economic decisions that's driving where people live, but it's also just the livability and lifestyle,” said Sarah Bernard with Red Key Realty.
Part of that is because when you're working or schooling from home—you don't necessarily need to be close to work or school.
That means while cities are seeing action too, much of the movement's in the suburbs or beyond. Pools, and homes with yards--are in high demand.
“People who didn't have a yard and that was perfectly fine maybe six months ago, all of a sudden they want that outdoor space,” said Bernard, who has seen a lot of interest in properties in Innsbrook—typically a resort community, now a place where people want to be full-time.
“Decisions that people made in the past are totally different right now,” said Bernard. “People are really looking at their lives very, very differently. And how do they want to spend it and what do they want to be surrounded by day in and day out? What do they want to be looking at? What is the point of view out the window?”
That doesn’t just mean moving around the St. Louis area: whether it’s to come home from a larger city or in search of more livability, people are choosing to move to the area, too.
“Certainly St. Louis being in the midwest, being a very economic place to live is it becomes very much desirable when, you know, when things like this happen that are not expected,” said Bernard.
“I have a national celebrity [as a client] who is from St. Louis who had just closed on her condo in New York, came back because when the pandemic hit and it's decided to make St. Louis home for a lot of reasons,” said Krummenacher. “It's like it's cheaper, it's much more accessible.”
Overall, quarantine-friendly properties are the most sought-after, like places with room for a home office or gym.
“We’re realizing how much are our homes, our shell: how important to make that inclusive. Just in case we run into other scenarios where we're a little bit more homebound,” said Krummenacher.
Even with all that demand: there isn't a lot of inventory, or houses for sale. Another side effect of the pandemic housing market is that many homeowners are staying put, so there aren't as many homes for sale as there are people who want them. It’s led to bidding wars and homes being off-the-market within weeks, in some cases.
Both real estate agents agree: it's a seller's market, and likely will be for awhile.
