April Lawrence Market Update

The spring market in Lawrence is shaping up to be a strong one! So strong in fact, that I forgot to do last month's update. As we stroll through the numbers in this update, that will become clear quickly. 

Home prices are up. WAY up! March '24 posted a shocking average price inside Lawrence of over $402,000! I'd have to go back and check, but if I recall correctly this smashes the previous monthly high by nearly $50,000. After limping into the end of last year and a very soft start to this year, the market is taking off. Listings in March shot up over 64% compared to February while sales actually declined YoY by over 21%. 

Sales are up to for the year, but only slightly. So far there are 2.6% more sales YTD vs. last year. If you recall, home sales were down about 25% in Lawrence in 2023. That's a big hole to climb out of. I've predicted that we will start to climb out of that hole this year but it's going to be a slow climb. Low inventory remains and interest rates will need to decline a bit more in order to see a substantial increase in transactions by year's end.

All of the stats that follow are sourced from the Lawrence MLS. What follows is a look at some numbers through the month of March 2024 within the city limits of Lawrence:

Month-over-Month

• March home sales decreased 3.4% from the previous month (56 vs 58)
• Average price  increase by 20.7% in March vs. the previous month, up to $402.6K
• Average Days-on-Market decreased 31% from 36 to 25 Days-on-Market
• 128 homes were listed in March, an increase from 78 listed in February
• List-Price-to-Sales-Price Ratio for March was 99.55%

Year-over-Year

• Home sales were down 21.1% in March '24 vs March '23, a decrease of 15 homes sold 
• Average Price was up YoY 33.5% compared to March '23
• Dollar Volume was up 5.1% vs March '23  for a total of $22.5M in the month
• The 128 homes listed last month was a 13.3% increase vs. March '23

YTD

• Homes Sales are up 2.6% YTD through March; an increase of 4 homes sold this year
• Average Price is up 9.8% this year
• Average DOM is up from 28 Days to 31 Days, a 10.7% increase
• 263 Homes have been listed so far this year, a 14.3% increase over last year
• Dollar Volume is up 12.% YTD for a total of $53.1M

Active Properties

• There are 85 "Active" properties in Lawrence as of this writing; an increase of 3.7% since my last market update. 
• There are 135 properties currently listed as "Under Contract." This is an increase of 77.6% since my last market update

In my February update I predicted a rapid rise in home prices heading into the spring market. That's exactly what's happened. Right now prices are up considerably over last year at this time. I'm predicted a 4-6% increase in home prices this year. So far this is looking likely, as the 2nd half of the year should taper off a bit from highs in the spring. The market is so far struggling to reach the 10-15% increase in transactions I'm predicting. I should have a better handle on that within the next couple of months. 

April is shaping up very strong. If you're looking to list your home, between now and into May is the perfect time! Buyers are getting used to the interest rate climate and know that they need to make a move. Waiting for rates to come down is a fool's errand. Rates are likely to stay right where they are for much of the remainder of the year. Prices are going up. Buy for less now, or for more later! 

Stay tuned to R+K Real Estate for great new content, updates, advice, opinions and more in 2024. 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