What is going on in the St. Louis Real Estate Market?

As with many areas around the country, St. Louis neighborhoods have been hit hard by foreclosures. In a letter I received recently from Kit Bond, he states that nationally mortgage delinquencies are at their highest rate in 23 years and that more than 57,000 homeowners are delinquent on their mortgages in Missouri alone. According to data from RealtyTrac, there were 3,398 Missouri foreclosures on the books of the nations financial institutions in the third quarter of 2009.
What does all of this mean for St. Louis foreclosures? Well, there are two ways that homeowners and homebuyers view these statistics.
Many homeowners are in trouble and searching for solutions or a way out. It might be worthwhile for them to look into a short sale or to call their current lender and request a loan modification. Despite what you may see in the news, there are many lenders that are willing to work with homeowners that are in trouble. It doesn’t matter if they are trying to save their public image or don’t want to add more foreclosures to their books, the bottom line is that some are still willing to help you get caught up and back on track.
On the other hand, there are investors lining up to purchase St. Louis foreclosures in hopes of rehabbing and reselling the property or even holding onto it as a rental property while waiting for the market to rebound. These investors are discovering that their are homes currently selling for 50-70% of the what they were selling for during the market highs of 2005 and 2006. Ideally, these investors are restoring the properties to good condition and helping to stabilize and rebuild the neighborhoods hit hardest by St. Louis foreclosures.
My advice to each of the two parties would be this:
If you are having trouble keeping up with your mortgage payments, contact your lender first. Try to work out a loan modification to help manage your payments if at all possible. If your lender will not work with you, call a real estate agent knowledgeable in short sales and attempt to complete one in an effort to protect your credit rating and future opportunities.
If you are an investor or would like to be, now is the time to get in. With properties selling between 50% and 60% of what they were selling for just a few years ago, you have a tremonous opportunity to create wealth if you are positioned well and patient enough to ride out the tough times.