I once tried to buy my wife a new house for Christmas, but I ran out of wrapping paper and called the whole thing off. Well, if you are in the market for a holiday home purchase this year, you will need more than a large supply of gift wrap. You’ll also need more money, as prices have taken a significant jump in 2016, according to a new report.

The latest report from the Lawrence Board of Realtors shows the Lawrence market continues to be defined by a shortage of homes for sale, which is resulting in an increase in prices for those properties on the market.

The board’s latest report, which tracks activity through October, shows the median selling price for Lawrence homes is now $177,700, which is up nearly 6 percent from the $168,000 mark of a year ago.

A figure from the Douglas County Appraiser’s office is more striking, and shows some types of homes have seen more than a 6 percent increase. In his October report, the Douglas County appraiser notes that through August, the average selling price for a three-bedroom, two-bath house with 1300 to 1800 square feet of space is now $184,987. That’s up from $168,295 during the same period a year ago, which is an increase of nearly 10 percent.

Numbers from the Board of Realtors suggest a shortage of homes on the market is contributing to the upward pricing pressure. The number of active listings on the market in October stood at 275, down from 317 during the same period a year ago, and down from 373 in October 2014. Local real estate leaders are now expecting such inventory shortages to continue throughout 2017, board president Carl Cline said in the most recent report.

The low supply of homes on the market has caused the market to struggle to meet past sales totals. For the year, home sales total 1,048, which is down by just less than 1 percent compared with the same period in 2015. A bright spot, however, has been the sale of newly constructed homes. Real estate agents have sold 79 newly constructed homes, which is an increase of 8.2 percent. If that trend continues, this would be the second straight year that the sales of newly constructed homes have increased.

Whether those numbers will spur an increase in new home construction in Lawrence, however, is still an open question. The report includes one figure that suggests not: The Lawrence market still has 53 unsold newly constructed homes on the market. With sales averaging a little less than eight per month, that is still more than a six-month supply of homes.

But the report also includes a figure that is heading in the right direction for home builders: The price difference between a new home and an existing home is shrinking. One theory holds that as the price difference between a newly constructed home and an existing home shrinks, buyers will start favoring newly constructed homes. That difference in price has started to occur in the Lawrence market. The median price of existing homes has increased by 5.8 percent in 2016, while the price for new homes has increased by just 1.8 percent. For the year, the median price spread between new and existing homes is about $137,000, which is down from about $141,000 in 2015. The spread also is probably a bit inflated, as the median price for existing homes is brought down by smaller older two-bedroom homes, while most new homes are considerably larger. But whether that spread has dwindled enough to cause builders to pick up their pace of new construction is uncertain.

Here’s a look at some other real estate statistics from Lawrence and the region:

• Lawrence home sales for the month of October were basically unchanged from a year ago. For the month 81 homes were sold compared with 83 in October 2015.

• While the total number of homes sold in Lawrence is down by 0.8 percent for the year, the total dollar value of all real estate sold — due to higher prices — is up 4.9 percent to $223.2 million.

• The median number of days a home sits on the market before it is sold is now down to 18. That’s down from 24 at the same point in 2015 and down from 33 in 2014.

• The real estate market looks a bit different just outside of the Lawrence city limits. The Lawrence Board of Realtors also puts together a report that shows total for Douglas County home sales outside of the Lawrence city limits. Year-to-date numbers show 201 sales have closed, an increase of about 14 percent over the same time period a year ago. Prices are on the rise too, with the median price checking in at $183,000, which is up 7.7 percent for the year.

• The Kansas City metro real estate market is mixed. According to the October report of the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors, the total number of homes sold in the Kansas City region is up 5.3 percent to just under 33,000 for the year. Median selling prices are up about 6 percent. However, the upturn isn’t uniform throughout the KC region. Johnson County, for instance, has seen home sales increase only by about 0.2 percent for the year. Median sales prices are up about 6.5 percent.

Town Talk will be off for the next couple of days. Here’s wishing all of you a happy and safe Thanksgiving.