Report: Wichita area home sales down in February

The Wichita area housing market has cooled lately, according to a monthly report released Wednesday by the South Central Kansas Multiple Listing Service.

February home sales in south-central Kansas fell by 2.4 percent when compared with the same month in 2015, according to the release. Sales last month totaled 566 housing units, down from 580 in February 2015.

Among existing homes, 532 sold in February, a decrease of 4 percent from the 554 units sold during the same month in 2015. The average sale price of existing homes was just less than $135,000, representing a slight decrease from February 2015, according to the release.

Construction of new homes saw a spike last month, as 34 sales occurred, up about 31 percent from February 2015. However, the average sale price for new homes – $260,085 – was down about 18 percent in February, year-over-year.

Contracts for sale were also up last month – 832 contracts were written in February – about a 15 percent jump from February 2015. In part, the number of contracts written reflects sales that are set to close in the near future.

At the current rate of sales, the south-central Kansas region has about a 4.4-month supply of homes on the market, the report showed. A figure representing less than five months of supply generally indicates a seller’s market.

This story was originally published March 16, 2016 at 11:22 AM with the headline "Report: Wichita area home sales down in February."