UPDATED: August 26th, 2010

How is the Lawrence Kansas real estate market?

Graph: Homes & Properties Placed Under Contract - by Month, for Years 2002 - 2010

Is the Lawrence, Kansas real estate market improving?

There was no surprise that the number of new contracts signed in May fell way off from April. April's blowout number was a result of many buyers rushing to secure a binding contract before May 1st (a requirmement for elgibility for the federal housing tax credit). My opinion is that sales are likely to remain somewhat slower than last year for the next 3 quarters. This is not great news for sellers, but a slow sales period is much better than a zero sales period and the market still has a healthy heart beat. Sellers should prepare for a long haul, yet remain ready for showings, as there are still qualified buyers hunting for the right home, just fewer of them. Because the tax credit deadline pulled forward sales from May into April, looking at a 2 month average (April + May), sales trends appear in line with the same time period for recent years despite the May drop.

The biggest threat to the market right now is unreasonable buyer expectation. Buyers have been increasingly expressing the opinion that they are expecting a, "steal of a deal" because national news has lead them to believe our market is under pressure from foreclosures and home prices are steeply down from previous years. So I'll say it again, buyer interest is still inline with recent years and housing prices are stable, there has not been an excess of foreclures pressuring the market, and most homes have maintained their value over the last few years. Buyers should not expect to buy a home in Lawrence for pennies on the dollar.

Are home prices in Lawrence, Kansas going up or down?

Mortgage rates have dropped below 5.0 percent on some 30 year fixed rate loans. Low interest rates generally provide buyers a strong incentive to purchase a home. Over the life of a loan, an interest rate just 1% lower makes a huge impact on the amount of money spent over the term of the loan. This is especially true for homes in the higher price ranges, which have seen limited buyer interest in recent months. Lower interest rates could be the "stimulus" high end Lawrence home owners have been seeking to help drive buyers to make offers before mortgage rates climb. To find out how small changes in interest rates affect the affordability of a home use a mortgage calculator.

I'm happy to provide buyers referrals to great local lenders who still offer low 3.5% down FHA loans with great rates, just give me a call at (785)550-2585.

Is this the right time to sell my Lawrence home?

How to read this chart:

1. The x axis of the chart is the sales price in thousands of dollars. Find the group of bars above the price that equals or slightly exceeds the asking price of the target home. This set of active listing statistics will be the most closely related to your target property based on asking price. To compare a home offered at $190,000, use the column labeled 200K. For a home priced at $327,000 use the 350K column. This absorption rate chart compares sales to inventory based only on price. Many factors affect the time required to sell a home, such as condition, age, location, etc... These factors should be fully considered before pricing for a home for sale.
2. The BLUE bar indicates how many homes are listed and active in the same price range as your home.
3. The GREEN line indicates the average number of homes sold in your price range each month (averaged over the last 12 months).
4. The RED line indicates how many months it would take to sell all the inventory in that price group (active inventory divided by average number of sales each month).

A SHORT RED BAR is GOOD for you if you are a SELLER.
A TALL GREEN BAR is BAD for you if you are a BUYER.
For BUYERS, a TALL BLUE BAR means you have more options to choose from.
For SELLERS, a SHORT BLUE BAR means you have less competition.
OPTIMAL SELLING CONDITIONS = SHORT BLUE & RED BAR / TALL GREEN BAR.
OPTIMAL BUYING CONDITIONS = TALL BLUE & RED BAR / SHORT GREEN BAR.

Data compiled from Lawrence MLS 2002 - 2010
Updated August 26, 2010

Single Family Building Permits for Lawrence, Kansas

Building permits for new single family homes can indicate how people are feeling about the Lawrence housing market. A spike in new home construction may indicate an appreciating real estate market. The graph below tracks new single family building permits each month in Lawrence, Kansas.