Tag Archives: Johnson County Real Estate

A Year Of Real Estate Market Stats Covering the Entire Kansas City Metro Area

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Here’s a look at the real estate stats for the entire Kansas City metro MLS area. This includes  Johnson County Kansas, Overland Park, Olathe, Leawood, Lenexa, Shawnee, Prairie Village, Lee’s Summit, Independence, Blue Springs, Grandview, Liberty, KCK and every listing in between that reports to the MLS. The graph below is a look at the past 14 months of real estate activity. You’ll see in the light green area that there was a significant dip in the volume of homes on the market in January and February. Since that time, the spring real estate market has brought the typical jump in the number of Kansas City homes for sale. But we’re still below the volume of homes that were on the market this time last year and that’s a good sign.

We won’t compare April’s sales rate to last April’s because you can see last year’s stats were grossly inflated by the home buyer tax credit that was still in effect. Looking at just the past few months, sales in both March and April (individually) were better than and other month since the tax credit ended (with the exception of July last year).

Posted by Jason A. Brown

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Kansas City Mortgage Interest Rates Fall For Third Straight Week

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Mortgage rates were inching higher around the new year but we’ve seen them in a downward trend recently and have actually seen rates drop for a third consecutive week. This is an amazing benefit to buying in today’s real estate market and it’s likely 20 years from now we’ll look back in amazement on the interests rates some of us were able to secure. If you’re considering buying a home, the average national 30-year fixed interest is hovering around 4.75%. Most experts believe interest rates will hold steady for at least the next few weeks.

This week I’ve received notifications from Bank of America advertising 30-year fixed rates at 4.625% and from Wells Fargo advertising 4.875%. Mortgage rates with most lenders change daily and some even update their quoted rates twice a day. So take any interest rate quote you see with a grain of salt because they probably will have changed – possibly up or down – by the time you contact the lender. When buying a home, contact your lender and lock in your rate. If you have a contract, you can lock in the current interest rate for free. If you’re just starting the Kansas City home buying process, you can often pay around $150 to lock in the current interest rate for 60 days. Once you’ve locked in your interest rate, it doesn’t matter if interest goes up during the lock period, because your rate is guaranteed.

Posted by Jason A. Brown

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December’s Real Estate Stats Indicate Home Sale Prices Are Increasing In The State Of Kansas

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

The Kansas Association of Realtors (KAR) report for December indicates the real estate market in the state of Kansas is stabilizing. After seeing five consecutive months of declining numbers, the number of homes sold (closed) in December 2010 was virtually identical to the number of sales in December of 2009.  This is even more impressive when you consider the previous year’s stats were compiled while we were still in the midst of the home buyer tax credit. The Kansas figures were also much better than the average national stats, which saw the volume of home sales drop 2.9% in December.

The amount of inventory on the market in Kansas stood at 8.8 months in December. In this case, the months of inventory was calculated using the number of December home sales and dividing that figure into the number of homes for sale when the report came out. Just as promising, the average sales in Kansas rose from $151,952 in December 2009 to $158,628 this December. That’s a very significant jump.

Looking closely at our local market, in Johnson County Kansas 521 homes were sold (closed) in  December. This was up from the 460 homes that sold in Johnson County in December 2009. Comparing this December’s sales rate to the amount of inventory  currently on the market indicates there’s 6.6 months of inventory on the market. This amount of inventory indicates a stable real estate market in Johnson County Kansas.

Posted by Jason A. Brown

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Are You Underestimating Today’s Low Interest Rates When Deciding If The Time Is Right To Buy A Kansas City Home?

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Mortgage interest rates have risen about a half percent recently but they’re still at unbelievable lows. Buyers who continue to sit the fence are likely costing themselves a higher mortgage payment down the road. Of course, the price of a home also needs factored into the equation, but interest rates have a more dramatic effect than many Kansas City home buyers realize.

If you’re thinking of waiting for lower home prices before you buy a home, consider the following scenarios…

Scenario 1 (Today’s market):
 123 Oak can be purchased today for $200,000.
Interest rates are 5%.
Buyer’s monthly principal & interest payment would be $1,074.

Scenario 2 (Down the road):
 Home prices fall 5 percent and now 123 Oak can be purchased for $190,000.
But interest rates rise 1/2 percent and are now at 5.5%.
Buyer’s monthly principal & interest payment would be $1,079.

Scenario 3 (Down the road):
 Home prices fall 10 percent and now 123 Oak can be purchased for $180,000.
But interest rates rise 1 percent and are now at 6%.
Buyer’s monthly principal and interest payment would be $1,079.

So if interest rates rise ONE percent (which is eventually going to happen), then a buyer will be able to afford $20,000 less home ($180,000 versus $200,000) using the price range in the sample above! A general rule of thumb to use when considering whether to buy today or wait until tomorrow is this… For every half percent interest rates rise, you’ll be able to purchase 5% less home in the future.


Posted by Jason A. Brown

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Comparing Real Estate Markets From Kansas City To Overland Park To Olathe…

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Many major real estate markets that I keep tabs on are in a buyer’s market. But a few market’s are still in what the “experts” consider a stable market. Most experts generally agree that a buyer’s market is when there’s between 5 to 7 months of inventory on the market. Less than  5 months of inventory is a Seller’s market and more than 7 months of inventory is a buyer’s market.

I usually take a snap shot look at one city or one subdivision at a time, so today I thought it would be interesting to take a look at several of our major metro cities for comparison purposes. The following chart uses the absorption rate over the past 6 months in each city to calculate the months of inventory. As expected, Overland Park is seeing a “stable” real estate market and is followed closely by Prairie Village Kansas and Olathe Kansas…

City

Active Listings

Months of Inventory
Overland Park KS 1,081 5.7
Prairie Village KS 183 6.2
Olathe KS 933 6.5
Shawnee KS 390 7.1
Leawood KS 321 7.2
Lenexa KS 297 7.6
Lee’s Summit MO 832 8.3
Kansas City MO 5,176 9.0

Posted by Jason A. Brown

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Kansas City Real Estate: The Short Story

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

I’ve heard everyone and their brother blamed for the real estate market downturn, but this 4 minute, 14 second video hits home all too well for many Kansas City homeowners. If you’re not able to find a sliver of humor in our current real estate market, do NOT watch this video…

Posted by Jason A. Brown

Don’t Ask Your Kansas City Realtor If It’s A Safe Neighborhood

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Hands On The Heartland
Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Fair Housing laws can put us Kansas City real estate agents in a difficult position. I’ve had the occasional home buyer get upset when I try and explain that I can’t tell them whether they should choose a particular school district. Some say that help with Johnson County Kansas schools is why they hired me. Other’s – often parents of young homebuyers – will ask if the home is in a safe area. I nearly got fired when I tried to explain to a client’s father that I couldn’t answer that question. We became buddies before the home search was over but we were on shaky ground for a good hour or so.

Buyer’s don’t need to panic because real estate agents are able to point home buyers to information on area school districts as well as where to find info to determine whether the buyer believes it’s safe place to live. I just can’t make a blanket statement on either issue. Fair Housing laws are important because they protect the public from being discriminated based on race, creed, color nationality, marital status, familial status, etc. With that in mind, Kansas City real estate agents can’t take part in steering clients to any particular area, city, school district, lake, street… you get the idea. 

So when I’m representing you in your home purchase, don’t ask me “is this a safe area”. Instead, ask me where you can get your hands on the area’s crime reports/statistics.  Don’t ask me “is this the right school district for your children”. Instead, ask me if I’d feel comfortable putting my kids in the schools. See the difference? I can’t steer you to any particular area. But I can steer myself. An even better question is where you can get your hands on the facts, stats and reports that will help you make an informed decision. For this reason, I have links to area schools and crime statistics all around my web site, www.JBPRealtyGroup.com.  

Posted by Jason A. Brown

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