photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

A single-family home under construction along Cedar Grove Way in west Lawrence is shown on July 7, 2025.

With half the year in the books, the number of homes sold in Lawrence is way up, but, in a twist, selling prices are up only moderately.

The latest report from the Lawrence Board of Realtors shows Lawrence homes sales through June totaled 546, up 13.3% from the same period a year ago. That big jump is in contrast to what is happening both regionally and nationally.

Across the country, home sales are basically steady from a year ago, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors, and are up just 2.2% in the Midwest region. In the nearby, growing Kansas City metro market, home sales thus far in 2025 are up just 1.8%.

In some regards, the large increase in home sales is a surprise because Lawrence is again on pace to set a new low in terms of single family home construction. As the Journal-World reported earlier this month, city officials had issued only 19 single family building permits through June. That’s a nearly 40% decrease from June 2024 totals. Lawrence ended up setting a record low for single-family home construction in 2024.

The number of Lawrence residents who are placing their existing homes up for sale also hasn’t been increasing. In June, the number of active listings on the Lawrence market actually was down 14% from the same period a year ago.

That combination of few newly constructed homes and limited number of existing homes coming on the market means “inventory remains to be a challenge for the market,” Bailey Stuart, president of the Lawrence Board of Realtors said in the group’s monthly report.

So, how are Lawrence home sales up so much in 2025? A four-letter word that real estate agents have long loved to utter seems to be playing a big role: June. The month returned to its normal status of being a powerhouse month for home sales as families to look to make a purchase and move before the new school year begins.

For whatever reason, June 2024 was a real dud. Home sales during that month failed to hit the 100-home mark and were down 24% from June 2023 totals. Fast-forward to June 2025 and sales for the month totaled 121. That basically was a return to 2023 levels, when Lawrence real estate agents booked 120 sales. So, while the month basically was a return to normal, it was a whopping 33% improvement from June 2024. That 33% increase is playing a sizable role in the 13% increase the Lawrence market has posted for the year.

With all that in mind, the more significant number in the Lawrence real estate market might be what’s happening with home prices. Through June, the median selling price for a Lawrence home is up 3.2% to $325,000. If that level of price increase holds for the rest of the year, it would be the smallest annual increase since at least 2018, but likely much longer. (2018 was as far back as I could quickly access through the Realtors public database.)

As a reminder, the increase in the median selling price of a Lawrence home for the last five years has been:

• 2024: up 4.3%

• 2023: up 4.1%

• 2022: up 10%

• 2021: up 11.5%

• 2020: up 11%

The 3.2% increase thus far for 2025 also is notable because it is a fair bit lower than what is happening in the Kansas City market. The median selling price in the K.C. metro is up 5.7% compared to a year ago, and now stands at $317,000.

The increase in Lawrence’s median selling price is more in line with what is happening at the national and regional level. Nationally, the median selling price for a single-family home is up 2%, while in the Midwest it is up 3.4% from a year ago.

If you are wanting to feel good about Lawrence housing prices, you also could look a little deeper at the regional and national numbers. Those numbers serve as a reminder “expensive” is a relative term. Lawrence housing prices are below all the national and regional averages, even for the Midwest. Here’s look at the median selling prices for various regions, as calculated by the National Association of Realtors.

• National median: $441,500

• Northeast median: $543,300

• Midwest median: $337,600

• South median: $374,500

• West median: $636,100

If you are tired of feeling so good, though, here are a couple of numbers for you. First, the median selling price for a home in the Kansas City metro is $317,000 compared to $325,000 in Lawrence. Given the difference in average wages between those two metros, that is a bit of a buzz kill. (To be clear, there are parts of the KC metro where housing prices are much higher. The median selling price for a home in Johnson County, for example, is nearly $464,000.)

For good measure, here are a couple of other numbers that might dampen a mood. As noted, Lawrence’s median selling price currently is $325,000. In 2020, it was $236,400. In 2018, it was $204,500. In other words, the median home price has increase nearly 59% since 2018.

One way to look at that increase: In 2018, the average, full-time, year-round worker in Lawrence earn average wage of $44,753 per year. If that average worker hoped to see his/her wage grow at the same pace as housing prices, they would need to be making a little more than $71,000 currently. The Census Bureau hasn’t yet produced 2025 or 2024 numbers, but in 2023 the median wage had grown to just under $55,000. It seems unlikely the last two years has gotten us to that $71,000 mark — but, if you can stand the fun, check your paycheck.