The Kansas City real estate market is very hot and in many ways the envy of housing pundits on both coasts. Despite the COVID pandemic causing huge unemployment and impaired consumer confidence in real estate buying and selling, the Kansas City housing prices are soaring. Based on the FHFA all-transactions home price index, typical home values in the Kansas City MSA in the 2nd quarter of 2020 rose by 4.8 percent compared to the same quarter in 2019.
Home sales in the Kansas City area totaled 4,130 units in August, down 2.9 percent from the same month in 2019. Year-to-date, 27,424 homes have sold, down from 27,712 over the same period in 2019. The sale price of homes in the metro also continues to rise and sellers are still getting more for their houses than they did this time last year. The average price of homes sold in August was $284,480, compared to $253,090 in August 2019. Homes that sold in August were on the market an average of 39 days and sold for 99.4 percent of their original asking prices, according to the data released by the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors.
The Kansas City real estate market was already competitive before the coronavirus, with Kansas City home prices rising faster than most U.S. cities. A lack of inventory across the metropolitan area is the biggest driver of the rising prices. But in Kansas City, there is only about one month of supply of available homes for sale — which an indicator of Kansas City being a strong seller's real estate market. Zillow research shows Kansas City, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Raleigh among the nation’s fastest-moving large markets with sellers typically accepting offers after only four days on the market.