It's hot outside! Quite frankly, I'm ready for things to cool down a bit. I think most home buyers this year would say the same about the market. It's been hard on most people, and it's not exactly gotten any easier. While it's true that we're now well past the Spring Market craziness, it's not like we're suddenly finding ourselves in the midst of a Buyer's Market. Far from it! Despite what any national news headlines you may see, this is still a strong Seller's Market. If you're one of those who say they're waiting for the market to burst, I'm going to burst that bubble right now: You're going to be waiting a LONG time!
Let's look at some stats through the month of July within the city limits of Lawrence:
- Homes sales have declined 20% YoY in the month of July vs 2021
- Total Transaction Dollar-Volume is also down YoY for July, down 13%
- Average YTD Home Sales Price in 2022 is $333,000
- Median YTD Home Sales Price in 2022 is $295,000, staying just under $300K for now
- Home sales are down 8% YTD vs Last Year
- Home Prices are up 9% YTD inside the city limits
- Median Days-on-Market is at 3 Days
- List-to-Sale Price Ratio is 102%
- Total Listings are down 8% in 2022 vs 2021
- There are 122 Active Properties in Lawrence as of this writing
August always seems to be a bit quiet in the real estate world. School starts soon. Lots of locals go on vacation this time of year. And things seem to remain so until about Labor Day. After that, we'll see an uptick in activity that will last until the Holidays. While the market has shifted, this shift was expected despite any rate increases or inflation. But be assured, that does not mean you can go around undercutting list prices! Multiple offer situations persist and anyone who considers themselves serious about buying a home needs to remember this. They'll have a leg-up when competing against buyers who erroneously think we're in a different market all of a sudden!
In fact, expect much of the same for at least the next 2 years. Maybe longer. Barring any unforeseen major catastrophes, this will be the pattern for the local real estate market going forward. I sometimes come across the opinion that goes something like this: "We're going to wait for the market to turn around and prices to go down, and THEN we'll buy!" Sadly, this sentiment is almost certain to backfire. This buyer actually only has two choices: Pull the trigger now and pay the market value today, or delay and pay more in the future. There is no guarantee whatsoever that real estate prices will correct any time soon.
Stay tuned to R+K Real Estate for great new content, updates, advice, opinions and more in 2022. We plan to continue our advance of transparency, consumer advocacy, and empowering our clients with alternate business models designed to provide high levels or real estate service with drastically reduced commissions!
-Ryan Desch, Broker/Owner R+K Real Estate Solutions
