Headlines

What’s new in the world of Real Estate

• Monthly housing payments hit a record-high

• The best week to sell your home

• Is the housing market overvalued?

• St. Louis’ struggles

Plus: Where Gen Z is buying, the ritziest neighborhood in the U.S., Zillow’s updated 2024 forecast, and more.

Listing of the week: A masonic temple in upstate New York.

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Performance

Market Updates

Rising mortgage rates and sale prices have pushed housing payments to a record-high. According to Redfin, the median U.S. monthly housing payment hit $2,747, a gain of 11% over this time last year. Despite affordability concerns, Redfin’s Homebuyer Demand Index is the highest it’s been since last July. Because of this, the median home-sale price is up 4.5% year-over-year, with only one market (San Antonio) showing a year-over-year loss. Ultimately, if mortgage rates stay high, it is possible that costs will start to flatten out if demand cools and supply starts to rise.

This week is the best time to list your home for sale. The week of April 14th-20th is the optimal time to sell a home, according to a report from Realtor.com. They looked at price patterns, inventory and buyer demand and determined that early spring is the best time for sellers, with favorable conditions continuing into the summer. April listings get 22.8% more views than usual and sell at a 17% quicker pace. However, this does not take into account the recent jump in mortgage rates, which may cut into demand. On the flip side, if you’re a potential buyer, waiting until fall could be prudent if there isn’t urgency to move.

The U.S. housing market is overvalued by 13.9% according to Moody’s. This actually represents a decline compared to Q2 2022, when Moody’s estimated the market to be overvalued by 27%, the highest number since they started keeping track. While housing prices continue to rise, the rate of growth has slowed, allowing market fundamentals like local income to catch up. Of the 403 markets tracked by Moody’s, 22 were considered undervalued, including San Francisco and Chicago. Markets such as Boise and Austin, which were significantly overvalued in 2022, have seen their home prices fall, but still remain overvalued according to the metrics.

The AT&T Tower in St. Louis sold for $3.6 million. The vacant 44-story, 1.46 million square foot office building was once sold for $205 million in 2006, but most recently sold for $4.5 million two years ago. The massive drop in its value is an illustration of the struggles the office sector has faced since the pandemic. According to a study by the University of Toronto, downtown St. Louis has had the steepest drop-off in foot traffic of any central business district in the U.S. since 2019. It may be entering a “doom loop,” where people and businesses leave a city, causing the tax base to drop and services to decline, causing more people and businesses to leave the city, and so on. The city is trying to revitalize the area by offering incentives, but it remains to be seen whether the office sector can be saved.