I’ve heard from more than one person that they are scared to list their home and move to a different house because they don’t think they will be able to find a new home to buy.  Maybe they’ve gotten a better job, promotion, nice raise, or changed jobs and are commuting much farther, or maybe they’ve gotten their existing home paid down and would like to upgrade.  For whatever reason, these folks want to move but they don’t think they’ll be able to find a home to replace theirs, so they are staying put.

Beginning early 2016, the housing market started to take off.  By this past winter, people were offering more than a home’s listing price in order to secure the contract for purchase.  It seemed that many homes had anywhere from 5-10 contract offers within 24 hours of the listing.  I’d consider that a volatile market as I’m sure you would.  Word quickly spread among neighborhoods, social media, and friends…”don’t put your home on the market because you won’t find a place to live!”  Widespread panic among homeowners seemed to set in.

But with all things like this, the housing market seems to have settled into a strong, viable pace.  The median estimated home value in Kansas City is $184,000 up 7.3% from July 27, 2016-July 27, 2017 according to Heartland MLS.  The median days on market is 49, down by 12.5%.  See the graphic below.

More good news for those of you trying to decide whether to list or not is there are currently 3,138 homes listed in Kansas city under $250,000. In Clay and Platte counties, there are currently 349 homes listed under the $250,000 price point.  I put this statistic in because there seems to be adequate availability of homes listed in this price range.  The homes that seemed to fly off the shelf were those listed under $250,000.  Many of these homes were selling for higher than listing price.  This appears to be less true now than back last fall into January-March 2017 when scarcity of existing starter homes seemed at its all time low in the Kansas City market.

The median list price for homes in the last year is $190,000.  This represents an 8.6% change increase from one year ago.  When compared to the whole State of Missouri, this is actually lower.  They have seen an increase of 10% listing price in the past year, which aligns with national statics.

Median Listing Price vs. Listing Volume, Price Range of Homes Sold and Price per Square Foot of homes sold are all included below.  Some realtors do not put in the square footage of homes they list.  Strange but true. I don’t quite understand why they aren’t thorough in their listings.  Because of this, these statistics may vary a little bit because of the unknown.

So….Should I List?

What does all this mean to you when trying to figure out whether to list or not?  I can’t answer to your specific needs and situation.  What I can say is if the only reason you weren’t listing is because of the market, give it a try!  The housing market is strong.  You should profit from your existing home and be able to find a house that meets your needs.  The bonus here is since the housing market is on the upward trend, your new home would have equity soon after you move in.  You’ll never know until you try.  Do some checking around, run the mortgage numbers and search the Heartland MLS, then give me a call.  You can do all this by going here:  karensalsbury.myrealestateplatform.com

Add your name to my blog list by clicking on the “Follow Real Estate Today” button and entering your email.  You’ll get an email every time I post an informative article about real estate buying and selling.  Email me at karen@barnesrealty.com or give me a call at (816) 550-5905.  I will answer your real estate questions with no pressure.  I look forward to hearing from you.