Wichita-area home sales up in January

Matching Kansas’ unseasonably warm weather, the housing market in the greater Wichita area is hot.

January home sales in south-central Kansas rose by more than 4 percent compared with the same month in 2015, according to a monthly report released Wednesday by the South Central Kansas Multiple Listing Service.

Sales totaled 529 homes for the period, which was up from 508, the report said. Existing homes were even higher during the year-over-year January period, with 502 units sold, a 5.2 percent increase.

The average sale price for an existing home last month was reported at $144,250, an increase of nearly 11 percent from January 2015. New construction sales totaled 26 for January, down four units from the same month in 2015, according to the report.

A total of 689 contracts for sale, reflecting transactions that are scheduled to close soon, were written last month, up about 4 percent from January 2015.

At the current rate of sales, the south-central Kansas region has about a 4.7-month supply of homes – about 2,500 units – 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 February 17, 2016 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Wichita-area home sales up in January."