Kansas City Ranked as Top Metro for First-Time Homebuyers

July 22, 2021 in Community

LendingTree released its annual ranking of the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas by how friendly they are for those buying their first home. Kansas City, Mo. leads the list of top metros for first-time buyers, followed by Oklahoma City, Okla. and Louisville, Ky. The ranking considered the following factors in its ranking: average down payment, average down […]

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Yun: We’ve Never Seen Prices Appreciate This Fast

in KCRAR

REALTOR® Magazine Just how wild is the real estate market right now? You don’t hear National Association of REALTORS® Chief Economist Lawrence Yun say this every day: “We’ve never seen price appreciation of this magnitude.” It’s a sobering message in NAR’s latest home sales video, which covers the month of May, when the median home […]

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Image description: Closeup pen on contract document with house in background.

Contract Signings Surge as Home Buyers Remain Eager

July 1, 2021 in KCRAR

REALTOR® Magazine Pending home sales bounced back strongly in May and surged to the highest reading for the month of May since 2005, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Wednesday. NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator of home sales based on contract signings, climbed 8% in May compared to April. Contract signings are […]

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President Conant: Home

June 17, 2021 in Guest Columns

by Tony Conant, 2021 KCRAR President June is in full swing, and I know we’ve all been bored waiting around for the market to pick up, right? Just kidding. I know it’s been a stressful time for many of us, but June serves as a reminder of two very important causes. June is National Homeownership […]

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Home Under Construction

New-Home Construction Slows as Costs Increase

May 20, 2021 in KCRAR

REALTOR® Magazine Housing starts dropped in April as builders saw rising building costs hamper inventory and affordability. Housing production fell 9.5% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.57 million units, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday. While homebuilding is down, the demand for […]

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Woman on her laptop at home with a cup of coffee.

Virtual Latte and Learn Session Coming on Multiple Offer Situations

April 29, 2021 in Education

With inventory low and multiple offer situations frequent, KCRAR will be bringing in instructor and local real estate professional Ron Henderson for an especially timely virtual Latte and Learn session on “Winning a Multiple Offer Situation” on May 7. “This is a super challenging real estate market we are in and you need to use […]

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President Lofton: Showing Courtesies 101

March 4, 2021 in Guest Columns

You wake up to review the hot sheet, and a brand-new listing that meets your buyer’s needs is now active! The excitement of rushing to the listing and hoping this is the one has set in. You schedule the showing to realize you are allowed a five-minute window. You will try to work fast but […]

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Recharge Speaker Spotlight: Maura Neill

February 25, 2021 in KCRAR

REALTOR® and real estate speaker Maura Neill will be joining the lineup of expert speakers at Recharge on March 25, where she will deliver a session on strategies when dealing with multiple offers. Neill asserts that a low inventory market means a skill set shift, which is why her session addresses how to handle multiple […]

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NAR Finds Black Home Buyers More Than Twice as Likely to Have Student Loan Debt, Be Rejected for Mortgage Loans Than White Home Buyers

February 17, 2021 in KCRAR

National Association of REALTORS® Key Highlights The U.S. homeownership rate was 64.2% in 2019. At 69.8%, the rate for non-Hispanic white Americans exceeds the national rate. However, the Black homeownership rate – 42% – represents a Black-white homeownership gap of almost 30%. The homeownership rates for Asian Americans and Hispanic Americans are 60.7% and 48.1%, […]

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2020 Kansas City Real Estate Market Recap: Low Interest Rates, Strong Buyer Demand, Increased Home Sales

January 21, 2021 in Community

The residential housing market across the Greater Kansas City Region remained strong throughout 2020 according to year-end data from the Kansas City Regional Association of REALTORS® (KCRAR). Closed sales were up 6.3% for the year, indicating continued buyer demand. While there was no shortage of buyer demand in 2020, the lack of homes for sale led to a 51.3% decrease in inventory from 2019, with the year closing […]

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