The June 2012 MLS Statistics: A Wake-Up Call for Buyers

The June 2012 Statistics are now available, and the big news is that Kansas City is approaching a balanced market. It should come as no surprise that the sales prices and the number of sales both have increased over June 2011 while inventory has declined. As an local resident, we should all be happy that our economy and real estate market is improving. Evaluating what this means to a buyer or seller is a bit different. For the last several years, we have been living in a buyer’s market with high inventory and low demand. During this time, buyers had the power, prices were falling, and sellers faced many frustrations. However, since the bust, we have seen a steady decline of inventory which has lead us to a more balanced market, and as of now, buyers only have a slight edge. This means that buyers should think twice before submitting those crazy low offers if they actually want the home. List price and sales price are often very close, and I am seeing a proliferation of multiple-offer situations wherein several buyers compete for the same property. Many quality homes are selling at full price or even higher, which hasn’t happened since the boom. VIEW COMPLETE JUNE 2012 STATISTICS

Sales Price: +6% over June 2011:

Number of Sales: +13% over June 2011:

Inventory: -17% from June 2011:

Supply of Homes on the Market: -3 months from June 2011. (A 6.9 month supply represents only a slight buyer’s edge for combined new and existing homes):

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