Just like that, we're already one month into 2026. Time to make our first check in for the Lawrence real estate market numbers for the new year!
A very mixed start to the year. Less home sales both from December of last year year and from January of 2025. Average price is only slightly down MoM and YoY, so that's fairly encouraging to see. I'm going to start throwing in median price numbers again this year, as I think average price is only one lens through which to view the market. Median prices are also seeing a slight decrease from both December and January 2025.
However, one month is rarely a big enough window, so despite the sudden drops in both average and median prices, I don't see this as a reason to claim the year is off to a slow start. The weather started out really nice at the beginning of January and then took a sudden, drastic cold turn midway through the month. It was enough to quiet things down. February has been relatively mild, so the market should start to catch up.
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
- January home sales decreased 45.6% from the previous month with 37 sold homes
- Average Price decreased 8.6% in January vs. the previous month, down to 372.6K
- Median Price increased 1.6%, up to $325,000
- Average Days-on-Market was down 13.5% at 32 Days-on-Market
- 51 homes were listed in January, a decrease from 57 listed in December
- List-Price-to-Sales-Price Ratio for January was 98.6%
- Average Per-Square-Foot in January was 199/sq.ft.
Year-over-Year
- Home sales were down 28.8% in January '26 vs January '25, a decrease of 15 homes sold
- Average Price was down YOY 0.4% compared to January '25
- Median Price was down 3.7% compared to January '25
- The 51 homes listed last month was a 21.5% decrease vs. January '25
YTD
- Year-to-date numbers will start to be updated in March.
Active Properties
- There are 97 "Active" properties in Lawrence, a decrease of 11% since my last update
- There are 80 properties currently listed as "Under Contract" which is an increase of 116.2% since my last update
- The average list price of homes currently Under Contract is $374.6K
- Months-of-Supply: There is currently 1.2 months-of-supply in Lawrence
The home currently list as Under Contract is a huge increase since my market update post in January. However the average list price of those homes is substantially lower than it was in that post. There is also a decrease in active properties. This seems to signify that homes are selling, but obviously inventory remains extremely low.
To again emphasize that this picture is a mixed bag, it's falling in line with what I said in my prediction post about 2026 being a bumpy year. The market is just now entering the spring market. Things are about to heat up considerably. The best time to sell will be from right now through May. There are a lot of buyers seeing houses at the moment!
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
