The housing market: homes, apartments and townhouses

Vigorous is an appropriate word to describe the housing market in the Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City area. Many subdivisions are being built and more are in the planning phase. Of course, houses, apartments and townhouses are also being built throughout the area.

There are several appealing parks for manufactured homes and many attractive apartment complexes.

A wide variety of homes are available at market prices with low interest rates.

Ross Austin, a Cape Girardeau-based residential real estate broker, says the residential market in this area has been super over the past 10 years.

A subdivision under development at Silver Springs and Bloomfield roads in Cape Girardeau

"While the national news reports drops in sales of homes across the board, our local area has continued to set record sales, and there has been substantial increases in the average sales price of homes," said Austin.

As of September 2006, 626 homes were listed in the Cape Girardeau County area, according to the Cape Girardeau County Multiple Listing Service. There are more than 260 additional homes listed in the surrounding counties of Scott, Stoddard, Bollinger and Perry.

Homes range from $28,900 to $2.6 million. The average price of a home listed in Cape Girardeau County is $197,400.

"Although several high-end properties have likely affected this figure, the average price has increased in the past year," said Austin. "New construction is also a factor in this increase with 142 homes under 2 years old on the market in September 2006 at an average price of $254,600."

Austin said 162 homes under 2 years old sold during 2005 at an average price of $198,400. He said these statistics may indicate a slowing of new construction built for speculation. Interest rates continue to be low nationwide. Depending on the type of mortgage and the borrower's qualifications, rates range from 3 percent to 9 percent. A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage typically ranges from 5.8 percent to 6.6 percent. A 15-year fixed rate mortgage can be found for under 5.9 percent.

Cape County

In Cape Girardeau County, about 960 homes were sold from September 2005 to September 2006. The prices ranged from $35,900 to $1,200,000. The average selling price was $148,960. Of those 960 homes, 532 were sold in Cape Girardeau at an average price of $142,360; 358 were sold in Jackson at an average price of $160,600; 70 were sold in rural Cape County at an average price of $131,250.

Surrounding area

The surrounding counties of Scott, Bollinger, Stoddard and Perry reported 299 homes sold at an average price of $92,240 from September 2005 to September 2006. The home sales ranged from $7,600 to $360,000. In Scott City 64 homes were sold at an average price of $76,400.

Houses sell in a modest time period. Nationwide statistics show homes take an average of less than 90 days to sell. In our local market, it currently takes an average of 105 days to sell a home in most price ranges, which is a significant decrease from 140 days in 2005.

The average monthly rent of an apartment in Cape is $450. Many apartment complexes have been built in recent years and more are planned for 2006-2007. Luxury apartments and townhouses can be found in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, whether in the form of new structures or elaborate rethinkings of older buildings. They often include whirlpools, security cameras, picture windows that offer panoramic views and convenient locations. Some apartments even come with elevators.

Cape Girardeau real estate agent Thomas M. Meyer in 2006 invested more than $1 million to renovate an apartment building in downtown Cape Girardeau to transform them from regular apartments to luxury apartments.

"It's a new niche," Meyer said, referring to increased demand for luxury apartments, which can rent for as much as $1,650, although most are in the $750 to $1,000 range.

In summer 2005, almost five miles of sidewalks were added to Cape Girardeau's west and north end. City officials refer to the concrete path as Lexington Trace. The sidewalks double as recreational paths that connects with the popular walking and biking trail that runs under Kingshighway near the intersection with Lexington and Mount Auburn Road.

The new sidewalks, which pass by many neighborhoods, more than doubles the length of the city's trail system. Pedestrians and bicyclists on the trail can trek from Shawnee Park on the city's south side to Kiwanis Park on the city's north side. The sidewalks continue east and are built along the north side of Lexington Avenue from Route W to North Sprigg Street, which leads south to downtown Cape Girardeau.

The city now requires developers to install sidewalks when constructing new subdivisions.