By Mike Rush
St. Louis (KSDK) - Kevin and Rachel Dill have done a lot of work on their house, including a fully finished basement with a projection movie area.
But they're ready to move into a bigger place to start a family. They were realistic about selling the house.
"When we talked about it, we were figuring four to six months," said Kevin.
But ten days after the sign hit the yard, "I got the phone call and the contract, I was shocked," said Kevin.
"I wasn't expecting it to sell as quickly as it did, but fortunate and glad," said Rachel.
According to its Association of Realtors, the number of St. Louis City and County homes sold in the first three months of this year increased 18 percent from the same time last year.
And things are looking up in St. Charles County too. Cheri Peterson is the president-elect of the County Association of Realtors.
"We're up about 13 percent, I believe on home sales in St. Charles County, compared to last year. This time last year, first quarter," said Peterson.
While that is one indicator, St. Charles County Assessor Scott Shipman says volume of sales is not the most important indicator that the market is coming back.
He says until a home sells twice it's hard to say if the property's value is going up.
"Looking at the same property that sold twice within a specified amount of time and it's either going to be more or less which would yield an increase or decrease in the market," said Shipman.
While that stat is still in the works for St. Charles County, the Dills are dealing with their own issue. They don't yet have a new place to live.
"Luckily we have my wonderful in-laws to fall back on in case we need to move into their place," said Rachel.
St. Charles County is about to begin the process of assessing the property. It happens every two years.
The last time, for the county overall, values went down four percent.
KSDK