photo by: AdobeStock

An AdobeStock image shows models of homes.

For most of the year, Lawrence’s single family housing market has been relatively nice. Home sales are up by more than 10%, yet the median selling price of a home hasn’t increased much more than the general rate of inflation.

But as the market enters its final quarter of the year, there are reasons to wonder whether relatively nice will turn into a tightening vice. The September market report from the Lawrence Board of Realtors certainly showed signs of tightening in the market.

Home sales during September were down 10% compared to September 2024, and the median selling price of Lawrence homes was up nearly 6%. Plus, the number of homes on the market has shrunk from a year ago, standing at 155 versus 180 last September.

“We find ourselves again with less than a two month’s supply of available housing for sale, and badly in need of new development and new housing inventory to ease the tension in the market,” Bailey Stuart, president of the Lawrence Board of Realtors, said in the report.

It all added up to a September where 59 Lawrence homes sold, down 10.6% from the same period a year ago. The median selling price of homes hit $330,000, up from $312,000 in September 2024.

There are signs that October also may be tight. The number of contracts written in September — which generally will turn into finalized sales in October — were down 28% from the same period a year ago.

Despite the September swoon, Lawrence’s sales numbers for 2025 year-to-date remain strong. Through the first nine months of the year, there have been 796 single family home sales, up 10.2% from the same period a year ago.

The double-digit growth rate, though, hasn’t caused housing prices to soar. The median selling price for the year is $325,000, up 3.2% from the same period a year ago. Without a doubt, the market remains a seller’s market, as homes thus far in 2025 sit on the market for a median of seven days before selling. However, that’s unchanged from a year earlier, and is better from a median of four days in 2023.

Lawrence’s September slowdown was different than what the market experienced in the nearby Kansas City metro area. Homes sales in September in the metro were up 13% from a year ago, and the median selling price for the month was up just less than 2% from the same period a year ago. Unlike Lawrence, the inventory of homes for sale in the K.C. metro grew by nearly 9% from a year ago, compared to a nearly 14% decline in Lawrence.

So, Kansas City likely wouldn’t be interested in trading Septembers with Lawrence. But, the metro might be interested in having Lawrence’s year-to-date numbers. Home sales in the K.C. metro are up just 3.5% for the year compared to Lawrence’s 10% growth. Plus the median home price has increased at a greater rate in K.C. than Lawrence — 4.9% versus 3.2%.

In terms of prices, though, K.C. has the lead in the number that most people care the most about — the median selling price for a home in the K.C. metro is about $5,000 cheaper than in Lawrence. That’s despite the fact that wages are generally higher in the K.C. metro area than in Lawrence. The metro median checked in at $320,000.

It is worth remembering, though, that the K.C. metro is a large area, and home prices vary widely from one part of the metro to another. Given that — and since we have nine months of prices in the books — let’s take a look at median selling prices for various areas of the metro and other areas that the KC area Realtors association tracks. All data except the Lawrence figures come from the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors. Also, here’s my math public service announcement, remember that a median price is the point at which half the homes sell for more than that amount and half the homes sell for less than that amount.

• Johnson County: $469,418, up 4.3%

• Cass County, Mo.: $346,000, up 4.9%

• Leavenworth County: $345,000, up 9.5%

• Clay County, Mo.: $335,000, up 1.5%

• Miami County: $325,000, up 5.5%

• Lawrence: $325,000, up 3.2%

• Clinton County, Mo: $278,000, up 11.2%

• Johnson County, Mo.: $275,000, up 1.9%

• Jackson County, Mo.: $272,500, up 4.8%

• Ray County, Mo.: $250,000 up 11.1%

• Jefferson County: $249,900, up 3.7%

• Wyandotte County: $230,000, up 2.4%

• Franklin County: $235,000, up 3.3%

• Lafayette County, Mo.: $235,000, up 4.4%

• St. Joseph, Mo. metro: $224,950, up 16.6%

• Bates County, Mo.: $200,600, up 1.6%

• Linn County: $188,000, down 6%

• Atchison County: $185,000, up 19.4%

As you can see, Lawrence isn’t the highest in the group, but you also can see that only about one-third of the communities have median selling prices above $300,000, and Lawrence is in that group.