Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

No doubt about it, most of the news we’re hearing on the real estate market is bad news. But here in Kansas City, Johnson County Kansas, Overland Park and the surrounding areas, we’re MUCH better off than many metro area real estate markets. This can be hard to see because even a 5% loss is a big loss — especially on an investment you count on appreciating. But things could be much worse as many cities have lost 10%, 20%, 30% or more of their property values… it’s been reported that property values in Merced California’s have fallen more than 50%. Whether you’ve lost 5% or 50% in property values, at some point the market is going to turn around and those who buy now, in a down market, are likely to make a LOT of equity (i.e. money).

Unfortunately, knowing the perfect time to buy is nearly impossible. We’ll be well into the recovery before you or I know it and before the media is reporting it. That’s why I’m always interested to hear what the “experts” are saying. Consider this… Economist Paul Dales estimates that housing prices are UNDERVALUED by 24%! Whether or not home prices fall next month, anyone with a long-term real estate strategy stands to make huge gains if Dale’s estimate is remotely accurate. Dales goes on to compare the historical relationship between income and home prices housing and finds home prices are as UNDERVALUED as they’ve been since the 1970’s.

Posted by Jason Brown