In March, a study conducted by SmartAsset, a financial planning website, found that our mighty metro was the cheapest place to live out of the top 25 in the nation! Calculating what living wage salaries were needed in each metro, our area was the lowest, and San Francisco was the highest:

St. Louis named the most affordable large US city | FOX 2 (fox2now.com)

To go along with that, Barrons just published an article about the Wall Street Journal/ Realtor.com Luxury Index that places St Louis at the top of their list, mainly for our affordability and how relatively inexpensive our high end homes cost:

Reliving Its 1900 Heyday, St. Louis Ranks No. 1 on the WSJ/Realtor.com Luxury Index (msn.com)

New York is the first state to ban natural gas in new building construction with some exemptions, starting in 2026, according to the Associated Press last week. This goes for gas ranges and furnaces, and I assume water heaters and any other gas appliances, in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This will not apply to any existing buildings or homes. 80 local governments around the country have already adopted a similar change on new buildings. I think it is safe to say that Missouri will not take up this ban anytime soon.

Here is an update on local, existing home sales activity as of yesterday (May 9):

  • Manchester had 6 homes available and 23 under contract
  • Ballwin had 5 homes available and 42 under contract
  • Kirkwood had 18 homes available and 50 under contract
  • St Peters had 14 homes available and 80 under contract
  • Arnold had 12 homes available and 28 under contract
  • Florissant had 54 homes available and 117 under contract

The ratios run from 2.2 to 8 pending sales for every 1 available. Adding the total of these 6 areas is 3.1 pendings to every 1 available. That is nearly as strong as it has ever been, mainly due to inventory dropping faster than the lower number of buyers. A normal market is more available homes than pendings. My last comparison of these areas in April was 3.2 to 1 (and 2.8 to 1 last June) with the available home supply UP 22% from April. Ballwin was the big change this month, taking honors at an 8 to 1 ratio of pendings to available, and St Peters right behind at 6 to 1. I see prices climbing again, but not skyrocketing like last spring. I am also seeing buyers being more choosey on condition, and demanding more on inspection repairs, like pre-pandemic.