Last year the real estate market was weird. In 2026, it's gotten even weirder! This spring the weather has been a mix of hot days and cold days. As if not to be outdone, the Lawrence market has also been a mix of hot and cold. One day things are going wild, then suddenly it's chilled. And then just when you wonder what's going on, it's hot again!
March was an example of a cooler period. Sales were down and prices were down, both year-to-date and year-over-year. Then April comes along to try and even things out. Both prices and sales were up substantially from March. But year-to-date and year-over-year numbers both still lagged. While average price it down for the year just a fuzz (-0.9% YTD), median price is actually up.
What this seems to allude to is the type of home that is moving the market. Namely, smaller homes priced under $400,000. This is usually what happens when there is more pressure on the lower end of the market than the higher end. This seems to be corroborated by looking at the per-square-foot numbers YTD. Up $9 to $197/sf, this is another indicator that smaller, lower-priced homes are selling more than larger, high priced homes.
All of the stats that follow are sourced from the Lawrence MLS. What follows is a look at some market numbers specifically within the city limits of Lawrence:
Month-over-Month
- April home sales increased 35.3% from the previous month with 92 sold homes
- Average Price increased 4.9% in April vs. the previous month, up to 359.9K
- Median Price increased 7.3%, up to $330,000
- Average Days-on-Market was down 37% at 17 Days-on-Market
- 150 homes were listed in April, an increase from 141 listed in March
- List-Price-to-Sales-Price Ratio for March was 99.4%
- Average Per-Square-Foot in February was 196/sq.ft.
Year-over-Year
- Home sales were down 6.1% in April '26 vs April '25, a decrease of 6 homes sold
- Average Price was up 2.1%
- Median Price was up 7.0%
- The 150 homes listed last month was a 9.1% decrease YoY
YTD
- Homes Sales are down 14.4% YTD through April; a decrease of 41 homes sold this year
- Average Price is down 0.9%
- Median Price is up 4.8%
- Average DOM is down 20% at 28 days
- 424 Homes have been listed so far this year; a decrease of 5.4% from last year
- Dollar Volume is down 18.1% YTD for a total of $86.4M
- Average Per-Square-Foot for the year is at $197/sq.ft., up from $188/sq.ft. in 2025
Active Properties
- There are 118 "Active" properties in Lawrence, an increase of 10.3% since my last update
- There are 144 properties currently listed as "Under Contract" which is a decrease of 1.4% since my last update
- The average list price of homes currently Under Contract is $387,698
- The average list price of homes currently Active is $540,101
- Months-of-Supply: There is currently 1.8 months-of-supply in Lawrence
There are several other stats above that point to smaller, lower-priced homes driving the market. The average list price of homes under contract is around $388K and the average price of homes currently listed is over $540K. That's a big difference and shows that the larger, higher-priced homes are lagging on the market.
Despite a better result in April, it was not enough to dig the market out of the hole of the previous months. Time will tell, but right now this is the first market in at least perhaps 10 years where we are down YTD in both sales and price. Global events are causing both buyers and sellers to hesitate. Some of this delay may be offset by busier summer months, but for now it remains to be seen.
Stay tuned to R+K Real Estate for great new content, updates, advice, opinions and more in 2026. 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
