The perks of buying a home in Missouri

With a population of over 6 million people, Missouri offers a plethora of residential real estate opportunities, and has seen substantial growth in recent years. While it is important to know the latest statistics and price range of certain areas before purchasing a home, the Midwest, as a whole, is one of the most affordable regions to buy residential real estate.

According to Neighborhood Scout, an online resource for those interested in financing, investing or appraising real estate, the most expensive city for buying houses in the state is Ladue, with Glendale as the most affordable city. Neighborhood Scout also notes that, as of 2016, the median home value in Missouri was $140,067, which was roughly $40,000 below the national average. The state also had the eleventh lowest cost of living in 2015. While, much like other metropolitan areas, real estate in St. Louis is more expensive than that of surrounding cities, cities such as Ladue and Clayton have median home values of $600,000.

Missouri Realtors advocates for real estate rights in the state, as well as provides various programs and services to new buyers. The latest market report of Missouri Realtors shows that in June 2017, realtors sold 8,998 properties — a slight increase from June 2016. The average sale price of homes in Missouri was $201,534; overall, sales in June amounted to over $1.8 billion in dollar value. With the slight increase in sales comes an increase in the number of realtors, which jumped from 18,773 in 2015 to 20,745 in 2016. In addition to a healthy housing market, Missouri is rarely without a helpful realtor around every buyer’s corner.