Tag Archives: Lenexa Real Estate

Will Mortgage Interest Rates Not Seen Since The 1970’s Get Kansas City Home Buyers Off The Fence?

Posted on by

Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Mortgage rates have now hit 40 year lows but many Kansas City home buyers are remaining cautious. Freddie Mac reports that the average 30-year fixed rate loan nationally had an interest rate of 4.22 percent — mortgage rates we haven’t seen since 1971. Low mortgage interest rates allow many home buyers to get into a home with a lower monthly payment or to buy a home larger than they otherwise would have been able to purchase. Despite low mortgage interest rates that most of our parents have never even enjoyed, other economic concerns have home buyers weighing their options. 


My group has many buyers sitting on the sidelines due to an uneasy feeling about the economy, many specifically questioning whether they’ll have their job a year down the road to continue making their mortgage payments. These buyers are pre-approved for a home loan but even their increased purchasing power due to today’s low interest rates isn’t enough to get some of them off the fence.

To ensure our home buyers have the info they need to make an informed real estate decision, we go over the implications of rising or falling interest rates. A buyer who waits a year could theoretically purchase a home for 5% less (if home prices fall) but that could be completely counteracted if mortgage rates rise 0.5% during the same time. Interest rates have a powerful effect on home buyers and should always be one of the most important factors considered when buying a home a home (assuming a buyer isn’t paying cash for the home). 


Posted by Jason Brown

Add to DeliciousAdd to DiggAdd to FaceBookAdd to Google BookmarkAdd to RedditAdd to StumbleUponAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Twitter

Conflicting Data: Falling Number Of Home Sales, Rising Median Home Sale Prices

Posted on by

Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

The Case-Schiller 20-city real estate index – which provides data on a sampling data on our national metro area real estate markets – shows that we’re nearing an all time low in the volume of home sales. It’s interesting that while home sales fell 1%, median sales prices rose an astounding 5.8% during the same period. Despite that rise in sales prices, the decline in the volume of home sales overall has the 20-city index nearing its lowest point since November 2009. Note how this graph shows us back at 2003 levels.


It’s noteworthy that the last several years shows the real estate market has been relatively stable. The  Case-Schiller 20-city index tells us that 80% of the cities experiencing monthly increases in sales prices but annually 19 of the 20 cities experienced lower sales prices.  Home sales overall are nearing their lowest point ever and if that trend continues it’s unlikely average home sales prices will continue to buck the trend.


Posted by Jason Brown

Add to DeliciousAdd to DiggAdd to FaceBookAdd to Google BookmarkAdd to RedditAdd to StumbleUponAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Twitter

Mixed Signals On What To Expect With Future Kansas City Real Estate Foreclosures

Posted on by

Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

I was surprised to hear the volume of foreclosures nationally has slowed significantly. These are credible year-over-year stats as reported by RealtyTrac. Indications are that foreclosure activity has dropped 1/3 May 2011 compared to May of last year. This puts foreclosures at a four-year low. In May, about 1 in 600 homeowners received some sort of foreclosure filing, which could include a default notification, scheduling of an auction date, finalized repossession, etc. 


Still, most experts agree there’s 2 to 3 years worth of distressed property inventory to eat up across the U.S. Additionally, I’ve seen estimates that for every current REO foreclosure listing, there’s two more listings yet to hit the market. If true, that’s going to significantly impact the promising reports of falling foreclosure activity nationally. I wonder if the build-up is due more to banks having trouble getting properties ready to go on the market, banks using discretion to not flood the real estate market with more distressed properties or if a lot of its to do with lenders being forced to change how they handle the process and thus having to re-start many foreclosure proceedings.


Posted by Jason Brown

Add to DeliciousAdd to DiggAdd to FaceBookAdd to Google BookmarkAdd to RedditAdd to StumbleUponAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Twitter

Lenexa Kansas Real Estate Update – July 2011

Posted on by

Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Real Estate Statistics On Lenexa Kansas
15 Day Glance At The Lenexa KS Real Estate Market

After calculating the absorption rate over the past 15 days in Lenexa Kansas, we find the city has 7.3 months of inventory currently on the market. While still a buyer’s market in Lenexa, 7.3 months of inventory is quite an improvement over the 11.1 months of inventory when we took a look at Lenexa’s June market stats.

Type # Average $ Avg DOM
Listings Past 15 Days 35 $278,262 –
Total Active Listings 321 – –
Newest Contracts Written 36 $253,695 148
Newest Sold (Closed) 22 $227,439 69

* The Average $ of Newest Contracts Written considers the list price when the homes went under contract. Data pulled from Heartland MLS and deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Low samplings in a category can skew results. Stats cover approximately 15 days from post date. DOM = Days On Market.

If you’re exploring the possibility of buying or selling a home in Lenexa, please contact us to discuss your situation. Here’s additional information on how we can assist you with selling your Lenexa home or with buying a Lenexa home. Please contact us with questions.

Lenexa Kansas Relocation Information

Search Lenexa Kansas Homes For Sale

View Additional Real Estate Stats On Lenexa Kansas

Lenexa Kansas Buyer’s Agent Services

Lenexa Kansas Listing Agent Services


Posted by Jason Brown

Add to DeliciousAdd to DiggAdd to FaceBookAdd to Google BookmarkAdd to RedditAdd to StumbleUponAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Twitter

Potential FHA Loan Changes Would Have A Drastic Effect On Kansas City Home Buyers… And Home Sellers

Posted on by

Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Mortgage industry consultant Brian Chappelle estimates that FORTY PERCENT of home buyers would fall out of the market-place if FHA raises the minimum down payment requirement from 3.5% to 5%. I just don’t see how we can afford to implement these types of drastic changes with a real estate market – and economy – already on edge. The lack of buyer demand is already harming property values across the country and imagine what would happen if 40% of home buyers disappeared due to sweeping FHA mortgage changes.


Increasing the minimum down payment from 3.5% to 5% on a $200,000 Johnson County Kansas home, would increase the home buyer’s down payment from $7,000 to $10,000. That’s a very significant THREE THOUSAND dollars and anyone thinking the potential FHA changes would be insignificant should think again.  $3,000 is guaranteed to run many home buyers we’re working with right now out of buying home. That will mean less demand for area home sellers and we all know what that means — lower sales prices.  These changes are very likely to happen though as we work to lessen the government’s involvement in the housing market. I hope there’s someone with a good head on their shoulders suggesting they SLOWLY (incrementally?) implement these types of changes. If not, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. 


Posted by Jason Brown

Add to DeliciousAdd to DiggAdd to FaceBookAdd to Google BookmarkAdd to RedditAdd to StumbleUponAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Twitter

Most Believe A Real Estate Market Recovery Is At Least A Couple Of Years Away

Posted on by

Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

A collaborative report by Trulia.com and RealtyTrac.com finds that 54% of a random 2,000+ people surveyed believe the soonest the housing market will recover is 2014. Perception is reality and for more than half of the people surveyed to believe that, we’re in for a long road ahead. Just six months ago a similar poll found 34% of respondents believed the soonest the housing market would recover would be in 2014. To find that 20% more people feel this way just six months later won’t come as a surprise to many home sellers out there and the path to a successful home sale is clearly ever-changing.

Just 18% of those polled felt the real estate market would improve in 2012 or sooner. It’s possible that things can change that quickly. Truly though, I believe NO ONE can predict just how fast things may improve. Once enough home buyers start jumping back into the market (in anticipation we’re on our way up), it’s anyone’s guess how much affect that will have on home prices.  It could depend whether foreclosures are rising or falling when we get to that point and, again, NO ONE can predict the timing of that either.


Posted by Jason Brown

Add to DeliciousAdd to DiggAdd to FaceBookAdd to Google BookmarkAdd to RedditAdd to StumbleUponAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Twitter

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

Posted on by
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

Add to DeliciousAdd to DiggAdd to FaceBookAdd to Google BookmarkAdd to RedditAdd to StumbleUponAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Twitter

Taking A Look At The National Housing Stats As We Head Into The Prime Selling Season

Posted on by
Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

My National Association or Realtors (NAR) reports that existing home sales in March rose 3.7% over February’s stats. The numbers were down 6.3% however when compared to March of last year. But we were still in the tax credit era at that time, so it’s not a real fair comparison to gauge last March against today’s real estate market. Comparing March stats to February’s however does bring better news to Kansas City home sellers as we head into the prime home selling season.


Existing home sales have in fact risen in all but 2 of the last 8 months. That’s great news. A NAR survey shows that 33% of homes purchased in March were bought by First Time Home Buyers. NAR also reports the average existing home price in March was just under $160,000 — an almost 6% drop from March of 2010 – and an astounding 40% of total sales were distressed properties, such as bank foreclosures and short sales.


Posted by Jason A. Brown

Add to DeliciousAdd to DiggAdd to FaceBookAdd to Google BookmarkAdd to RedditAdd to StumbleUponAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Twitter

National Home Prices Take Huge Dip Back To 2002 Levels

Posted on by
Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

The U.S. accused Saddam Hussein of developing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. An arrest was made in the D.C. sniper gun attacks. Enron happened. That was a long time ago… 9 years to be exact. And the value of the average U.S. home today is now equivalent to the average home price at the time of those events, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller price index. The downward trend is likely to continue until the volume of new foreclosure listings slows. Nearly 40% of U.S. homes sold last month were foreclosures or Short Sales (upside down homeowners praying their lender will accept a payoff lower than the borrower’s loan amount).


The conditions present today make it tough for many typical home sellers to catch a break. Some sellers become nervous when their homes don’t sell quickly. Many will make a knee-jerk reaction to drastically lower their prices as they work to gain market acceptance. This erodes values of surrounding homes and becomes a vicious cycle in some cases. To break the cycle, I believe we’re going to need an extended run of positive economic news (should create more buyer demand in the market) and a sizable reduction in the volume of foreclosure listings hitting the market (less supply of distressed homes will increase the demand for typical resale homes).

Some people predict we’ll never again see the real estate appreciation rates we saw for years in our country. While that may be true, to say that the housing market isn’t going to rebound would be bucking history.  Real estate has always rebounded and the pride of homeownership is one of the things that makes our country great. I am amazed when I hear the occasional person say that it’s crazy to own a home. I always tell them, someone is going to own the home they live in. Would they rather it be a landlord making the decisions for them the rest of their lives? I’ve yet to hear a plausible response to the question.  Real estate is also a LOCAL phenomena and the numbers reported nationally are drug down drastically by the real estate bubbles that burst in portions of California, Florida, Colorado and Arizona.


Posted by Jason A. Brown

Add to DeliciousAdd to DiggAdd to FaceBookAdd to Google BookmarkAdd to RedditAdd to StumbleUponAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Twitter

Kansas City Mortgage Interest Rates Fall For Third Straight Week

Posted on by
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

Add to DeliciousAdd to DiggAdd to FaceBookAdd to Google BookmarkAdd to RedditAdd to StumbleUponAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Twitter