Home sales slow, prices rise in April

Real estate market picks up in Baldwin

Sale prices for homes in Lawrence and Douglas County continue to rise, and the number of sales continues to drop, according to a new report.

The Douglas County Appraiser’s Office reported that 159 homes were sold in April, down 7 percent from 171 a year earlier.

The average sale price last month was $165,797. That was up $5,803, or 3.6 percent, from the $159,994 average in April 2004.

The decline in the number of overall county sales continued a trend established during the first quarter. There were 229 homes sold in the county during the first three months of the year, down 3.8 percent from 238 sales during the same period a year earlier.

In April, only one community – Baldwin – managed to show a significant rise in sales.

A dozen sales closed last month in Baldwin, up from three a year earlier and following a 125 percent boost during the first quarter, when 27 homes sold compared with 15 during the same three months a year earlier.

The average price paid for a Baldwin home last month was $150,508, an increase of $34,258 from April 2004.

According to the Lawrence Board of Realtors, Baldwin had 55 residential properties on the market as April ended, with an average list price of $186,702.

Nearly half of the available properties were new, with many of them located in two growing developments: Fire Tree Estates and Signal Ridge.

Comparison of area towns

Number of sales and average prices paid for homes in April, compared with a year earlier, according to the Douglas County Appraiser’s Office:

  • Lawrence: 129, down from 139; $167,890, up 3.4 percent.
  • North Lawrence: Three, unchanged; $115,300, up 4.3 percent.
  • Baldwin: 12, up from three; $150,508, up 29.5 percent.
  • Eudora: 11, down from 17; $168,030, up 22.6 percent.
  • Lecompton: one, up from zero; the sale was for $249,800.
  • Rural: three, down from nine; $185,667, down 5.7 percent.

* Note: The office tracks North Lawrence sales as a separate category from elsewhere in Lawrence.