Wichita, Kansas Real Estate Market Report - 01 April 2018

Purpose of the Wichita Area Real Estate Market Report - The purpose of this report is to provide home buyers and sellers the information necessary to make informed decisions when making the large financial decision that is buying or selling a home. I hope the residents of Wichita, Kansas and the surrounding area (and any out of state investors) will find the information valuable and I welcome any questions or comments.

Housing Inventory Movement:

The housing inventory movement metrics describe the current availability of and recent buyer activity. These metrics can also help to predict future market conditions. It is important for both home buyers and sellers to understand the supply of buyers and homes available and how they affect pricing and the likely future trends.

Analysis of Housing Inventory Movement:

Wichita is clearly in a Seller’s market with there being only 2.17 months’ worth of inventory on the market. It is also clear that buyers have begun to flood the market with half of the homes going under contract within 15 days or less this past week; which is half the time for homes which closed the past week.

With more homes going under contract (206) than coming on the market (189) this past week it doesn’t seem like there will be enough new inventory to offset increased buyer demand in the spring/summer selling season. If these numbers continue with this trend then buyers can expect the median days on market for homes to continue dropping.

New home sales are sitting at 6.21% in the Wichita area, which is well below the national average of 10% (as reported by the National Association of Home Builders). This likely means there will not be any loosening of the tight housing inventory in Wichita any time in the near future.

Housing Inventory Pricing:

The housing inventory pricing metrics describe the current trends for listing vs selling price, as well as the changes in current values when compared to the previous year. Net sold price is the price a home sells for after accounting for seller credits, this is used instead of sold price because this is a better indicator of market value. These metrics are important for home buyers and sellers to understand so they understand how home pricing affects offers and sale prices.

Housing Inventory Pricing Analysis:

The average home is currently selling for 3.42% less than asking price which means very few low offer prices are being accepted by homeowners. Homes selling in less than the median days on market are selling for a greater percentage of asking price than are home selling in greater than the median days on market; this highlights the importance of proper pricing when the home first comes on the market and quick changes if there is little to no traffic for home sellers.

Another point of note is the price point for the homes above the median days on market, it is slightly higher than the ones below the median days on market. This could be an additional reason the homes are staying on the market longer, higher priced homes normally have less of a buyers’ market than the lower priced homes making the demand for them lower.

Homeowners should be happy to see that prices have risen just over 10% for sales in the area, making it highly likely that owners have increased their equity through home value appreciation alone.

*Note: The above metrics were compiled using data provided by the Realtors of South Central Kansas Multiple Listing Service. The data was aggregated from homes listed using the MLS within 30 miles of Wichita (see map below). The data was collected by the author (local Wichita Real Estate Agent - Jared Viernes) on the date the blog post was published. There are many submarkets within Wichita and the surrounding area which may be very different from the averages/medians discussed here. This is meant as an analysis of the overall Wichita area real estate market, not a specific neighborhood in Wichita.

Reposted for my website: https://jaredviernes.com/wichita-real-estate-blog