December home sales in Wichita area fall slightly

December home sales in south-central Kansas dipped slightly when compared to the same month in 2014, according to a monthly report released Wednesday by the South Central Kansas Multiple Listing Service.

Home sales in the region fell by just over 1 percent for the month when compared with the December 2014 numbers, according to the release. Sales in the area totaled 737 units, down marginally from 746 during December 2014. Existing home sales increased slightly for the month, from 680 units sold in 2014 to 686 sold in December 2015, according to the report.

The average sale price for an existing home last month was reported at $136,319, an increase of over 4 percent from December 2014. New construction sales, however, dropped nearly 23 percent, from 66 sales for December 2014 to 51 sales last month, according to the report.

The number of contracts for sale that were written last month, 564, represented a 3.5 percent increase from December 2014. At the current rate of sales, the south-central Kansas region has about a 3.4-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 January 20, 2016 at 11:00 AM with the headline "December home sales in Wichita area fall slightly."