KC area’s housing market was ‘ugly’ in 2007

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Hot spots

In Kansas City, the housing market for sellers wasn’t all doom and gloom. Some areas, in fact, kept prospering.

One of those places was downtown, which continues to attract a mixture of empty-nesters and young professionals to an environment and choices not widely available in the area.

Average resale prices downtown have jumped by one-third in the last two years. Consider the River Bend Lofts, which were converted to condos a few years ago. One two-bedroom loft with a view of the Missouri River was originally purchased in 2006 for $196,500, then resold last year for $218,500 — an 11 percent gain.

Some other parts of the area have remained hot. During the past four years, The Star found, housing appreciation surged at double or triple the rate of inflation in almost one-fifth of area ZIP codes.

In some cases, that occurred in newer, growing corridors where more expensive, newly constructed homes can skew the average resale price when they start getting resold. But surging appreciation is also found along the urban, state line corridor.

For instance, average prices in Brookside’s 64113 have appreciated 24 percent since 2003. On the Kansas side, old Leawood’s 66206 is up 43 percent.

“People are attracted to those areas because of that kind of consistent, safe track record,” said Pat Tholen, a Realtor of the Year in Kansas.

Some real estate agents claim the market is already picking up. Others aren’t so sure. Even Ruggiero said, “I suspect the rest of this year will be more of a correction.”

National outlooks on Kansas City’s price trends are mixed. On one hand, Forbes magazine named Kansas City one of the 10-riskiest housing markets in the country because owners have so little equity in their homes, so they’re easier to walk away from. On the other hand, the PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. determined that the area has one of the lowest risks of resale home prices being lower in two years.

So a seller like Elizabeth Nelson isn’t sure whether or not to be hopeful. Last spring, she and her husband finished fixing up their Prairie Village ranch. They priced it at $617,000 because another home down the street was priced even higher. But they got no offers through real estate agents. Then they tried a for-sale-by-owner service. Still no offers. They reduced the price to $545,000. Still no offers. Now they are re-listing it.

“It’s been frustrating because it’s taken a lot longer than I thought,” Elizabeth said. “You feel like your life is on hold.”

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To reach Jeffrey Spivak, call 816-234-4416 or send e-mail to jspivak@kcstar.com.