Why I See Opportunity in STL

[Joshua Miller]

Hi all. This is my first post on the forums, as I'm usually more of a lurker. I've come up with several reasons why the real estate investing market in Saint Louis seems optimal. This could be for buy and hold investors or short-term investors. This list may be biased in some ways, since I live in STL and am extremely interested in starting to invest in my local market. In 2023, Forbes recognizes 7 of the Fortune 500 companies which are based in Saint Louis. These seven companies include Centene (#25), Emerson Electric (#207), Reinsurance Group of America (#257), Edward Jones (#333), Graybar Electric (#378), Olin (#410), and Ameren (#480). Out of these seven companies, six of them have positive profit changes following the year prior - this signifies growth. The growth of these companies doesn't directly prove job growth, but the job growth in STL will likely continue to grow around 7% between the years 2020 and 2030. Job growth is essential for a real estate market because it shows the areas that people are moving into, and out of, i.e., where the money is moving to. Other big things in the saint louis region, like the CityPark soccer stadium in the downtown region which costed over 450 million dollars and was completed in late 2022, shows that growth is possible and is happening in many ways around the city. 

Thanks for reading, and I am very curious to see what others think of the saint louis market!

[Melanie Wilmesher]

I have personally always thought of St. Louis to be a hidden gem. Many of the houses are so charming to me. That's a personal opinion of course but I've considered it a handful of times and even more recently. About a year ago, I was exploring the STR market around downtown. I got nervous by watching AirBnB, seeing tons of available properties that had no bookings for months and months at a time. Eventually, I thought there was too much risk (market saturation) and I chose another STR market. I would likely still consider an LTR here and love your insights on growth. I'll be curious to see if other St. Louis investors chime in.