The Lawrence real estate market continued a little bit of a late-summer momentum in August. Although sales were down, prices remained near all-time highs set earlier this year. The word on the street is that the local market is "weird" or "wonky." That's because while the price numbers remain high, there's a lot of hit-and-miss when it comes to what is selling and what isn't.
The days of 30 showings and 10 offers seem long gone. However, they're not gone entirely. Some listings are hitting the market and still getting multiple offers. Those buyers are also making a strong showing to sellers on getting through inspections. But while some homes are getting lots of initial activity and interest, others don't seem to initially capitalize on the same momentum. There are more and more listings that are sitting for long periods of time. There is some element of unpredictability in the market, but by-and-large, accurately priced homes are still getting under contract within days and over-priced homes are languishing.
The average price of homes sold in Lawrence in August was an extremely strong $363.7K. Fewer homes sold in August vs. both July and August of last year. Fewer homes were listed in August vs. July. Average price is up for the year by 5.9%, aligning perfectly with the predictions I made for the year back in January. Overall home sales, on the other hand, are barely keeping pace with 2023. Through August, only 4 more homes have sold this year, well below my likewise predictions for the year. We'll need a very strong fall market to come in over a very weak year for sales that was 2023.
All of the stats that follow are sourced from the Lawrence MLS. What follows is a look at some numbers through the month of August 2024 within the city limits of Lawrence:
Month-over-Month
- August home sales decreased 11.1% from the previous month (80 vs 90)
- Average price increased by 0.6% in August vs. the previous month, up to $363.7K
- Average Days-on-Market increased 37.5% from 16 to 22 Days-on-Market
- 99 homes were listed in August, a decrease from 104 listed in July
- List-Price-to-Sales-Price Ratio for August was 97.1%
- Average Per-Square-Foot in August was 189/sq.ft. which is an increase of 2.7% from July
Year-over-Year
- Home sales were down 10.9% in August '24 vs July '23, a decrease of 12 homes sold
- Average Price was up YoY 10.2% compared to August '23
- Dollar Volume was down 4.0% vs August '23 for a total of $29.1M in the month
- The 99 homes listed last month was a 20.7% increase vs. August '23
- Average Per-Square-Foot was up 9.9% in August 24 vs. August '23
YTD
- Homes Sales are up 0.6% YTD through August; an increase of 4 homes sold this year
- Average Price is up 5.9% this year
- Average DOM is up from 16 Days to 21 Days, a 31.3% increase
- 883 Homes have been listed so far this year, a 10.2% increase over last year
- Dollar Volume is up 6.6% YTD for a total of $221.1M
- Average Per-Square-Foot for the year is at $186/sq.ft., up from $174/sq.ft. in 2023
Active Properties
- There are 156 "Active" properties in Lawrence as of this writing; an increase of 9.1% since my last market update.
- There are 76 properties currently listed as "Under Contract." This is an decrease of 12.6% since my last market update
The fall market is definitely here. While the boots-on-the-ground sense seems to diverge with some of the stats for August, September should shape up more expectedly. Already we're seeing a lot of showing and listing activity. Things seem to certainly be moving a bit faster than they were a month ago. However, I have to temper my optimism a little bit. The market seems to be absorbing most listings, but not every seller has found success just yet.
With interest rates on their way down, there's hope that buyers are "getting off the fence." That same logic can apply to home sellers as well. Many potential sellers having been sitting tight with a low interest rate acquired before 2022 when rates suddenly rose. This has been referred to as a "lock-in" effect. As rates come down, this should ease people up to list their home for sale, thus alleviating some pressure on the low housing inventory climate. However, some people may still be sitting on the fence, waiting to see where rates ultimately land.
Another item to note, last month was when the Offer of Buyer Agent Compensation came off the MLS. We are already seeing changes take place in how buyer agent commissions are negotiated. This is great news, and we intend to leverage this change to the benefit of both our seller and buyer clients. R+K Real Estate is the only company in the area that offers 1% full-service real estate!
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
