Despite all the weirdness and unpredictability in the Lawrence real estate market, the market stats remain surprisingly firm through August. The month showed broad gains in both sales and prices, while new listings took a slide.
While overall home sales are still down for the year, both average and median prices are showing modest increases. With fewer homes selling, overall dollar volume remains considerably lower than last year. And with fewer homes available to purchase, it’s clear that limited inventory is one of the factors helping keep prices where they are.
The tale of two selling experiences continues to play out. For the year, the average days on market for sold homes is just 22 days. For homes currently under contract, that average jumps to 36 days. And for homes still active on the MLS, the average is 72 days.
That may be the defining story of the 2026 market: a listing either sells quickly, or it sits for two months or more.
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
- August home sales increased 15% from the previous month with 92 sold homes
- Average Price increased 1.9% in August vs. the previous month, to 382.1K
- Median Price increased 3.3% to $339,500
- Average DOM increased 5% to 21 days-on-market
- 93 homes were listed in August, a 30.3% decrease from 119 listed in July
- List-Price-to-Sales-Price Ratio for August was 98.0%
- Average Per-Square-Foot in August was 197/sq.ft.
Year-over-Year
- Home sales were down 8.9% in August '26 vs July '25, a decrease of 9 homes sold
- Average Price was up 2.7%
- Median Price was up 4.5%
- The 93 homes listed last month was a 5.7% increase YoY
- Market Dollar Volume was down 6.4% at $35.2M
YTD
- Homes Sales are down 13.4% YTD through August; a decrease of 98 homes sold this year
- Average Price is up 0.5% at $370.1K
- Median Price is up 1.6% at $330,000
- Average DOM is down 8.3% at 22 days-on-market
- 882 Homes have been listed so far this year; a decrease of 4.6% from last year
- Total Market Dollar Volume is down 13.0% YTD for a total of $235M
- Average Per-Square-Foot for the year is at $195/sq.ft., up from $194/sq.ft. in 2025
Active Properties
- There are 174 "Active" properties in Lawrence, an increase of 7.4% since my last update
- There are 76 properties currently listed as "Under Contract" which is a decrease of 13.6% since my last update
- The average list price of homes currently Under Contract is $378,722
- The average DOM for Under Contract homes is 36 Days
- The average list price of homes currently Active is $462,852
- The average DOM for Active homes is 72 Days
- Months-of-Supply: There is currently 2.3 months-of-supply in Lawrence
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
