Can you believe we are heading into the 4th quarter of 2021? It’s hard to imagine but it is here. In the residential real estate world, the third quarter was another one for the record books, with record high sale prices, reduced inventory, multiple offers and increased buyer demand continuing to be the name of the game throughout the summer.
In what has been coined a seller’s market, we saw buyers taking steps such as making offers on homes sight unseen, offering more than the asking price and waiving inspections in order to stay competitive. In the Kansas City metro, there was a slight decrease of 4.2% in pending sales from the second quarter to the third quarter: 13,158 to 12,611. Closed sales also slightly decreased from 13,437 to 13,190 resulting in a reduction of 1.8%. (Source: Kansas City Association of Realtors).
Due to the inventory shortage, we are seeing some evidence of buyer fatigue in the area, a phenomenon that is taking place across the United States. The number of homes for sale in Q3 is down from this time in 2020, with numbers sitting around 4,500 compared to 5,600 last year – just over a 19% decrease. Some good news for the Kansas City metro – year-over-year inventory increases are beginning to show up each month locally. However, this trend is not yet apparent nationally.
Also increasing year over year are average home sale prices. The median sale price this time in 2020 was just over $280,000 and now prices are just over $308,000 – an 8.6% increase. These increases are due to demand and buyers being willing to pay more for what they want. A question on the minds of experts, buyers, sellers alike is “How long is this going to go on?!” Nationally, Q3 saw an improvement in new listings as well as a slight decline in home sales, which may indicate that the marketing is starting level off and shift to a buyer-friendly market. Months supply of inventory was down 14.3% to 1.2 months. Conversely, Q3 percent of list price received was up to 101.3% since last year.
Although some buyers decided to put their home searches on hold in the third quarter due to the current market challenges, at Bash & Co. Sotheby’s International Realty we saw tremendous success and were able to help 160 buyers and sellers unlock home. Our team of global real estate experts would love to help you do the same!
Bash & Co. Sotheby’s International Realty is an innovative full-service residential real estate brokerage that leverages the latest technology to serve clients in emerging, established, and luxury neighborhoods across the Kansas City area. Follow them on Instagram here and on Facebook here.
