Top 100 in Real Estate

St. Louis is sometimes in the top rankings - but not always on a possitive note - so I have been doing some research....

According to City-Data .. St. Charles County, MO is ranked #100 in "Top 101 counties with the largest number of people moving in compared to moving out ".

Moscow Mills, MO is ranked #100 in "Top 101 cities with the largest percentage of mobile homes " - no comment on whether this is good or bad :)

Jefferson County, MO is ranked #69 in "Top 101 counties with the lowest percentage of residents relocating to foreign countries in 2006".

Hear's a good one - Town And County, MO is ranked #11 in "Top 101 cities with the largest percentage of elementary and middle school students in private schools ", while Des Peres is ranked #19, Crestwood #26, Creve Coeur #37, Oakville #44, Affton #64, Webster Groves #73, Mehlville #77, and Washington #87.... wow - this could be looked at as good - people can afford private schools... or maybe the public schools are just that bad!! High School stats are up there too - with Town and Country being #5, etc....

Jennings was the one city in the St. Louis area under "Top 101 cities with the largest percentage of divorced people age 25+ " and ranked near the bottom at #95.

Here's a funny one - Clayton is #34 in "Top 101 zip codes with the most offices of lawyers in 2005", while Creve Coeur is #19 for most Doctor offices, Chesterfield is #31 for most beauty salons, and Clayton #76 for most museums.

$$$ Ladue ranks #45 in income, while Farmington is ranked #82 for the number of people in mental institutions.

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I started out just browsing to see where St. Louis ranked in housing, and ended up with something else - in some ways more interesting.

What is the Real Estate Sales forecast for 2009?

Some say that 2009 will be the "year of the thaw" and that home prices will continue to fall -- in my company I have noticed that things are starting to get busy - the phone is ringing - agents are showing our properties - seems like most other years.



Buyers are starting to realize that NOW is the time to buy. Here is a press release:



Press Release 2/3/09 - National Association of Realtors


2009 Real Estate Forecast Shows a Gain in both the Pending and Home Sales Arena!
Pending home sales show healthy gain. Pending increased as more buyers took advantage of improved affordability conditions, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Big gains in the South and Midwest offset modest declines in other regions.


The Pending Home Sales Index,1 a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in December, rose 6.3 percent to 87.7 from an upwardly revised reading of 82.5 in November, and is 2.1 percent higher than December 2007 when it was 85.9.

I think that the less I listen to the news and the more I listen to the phone ringing, the better I feel about the market!