Area home sales decline slightly, but prices rise

Home sales dipped slightly in the Kansas City area in July, but the average sales price climbed a healthy 4 percent, the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors said in a report Tuesday.

Sales of new and existing homes totaled 3,086 last month, down 1 percent from July 2013, the association said. Existing home sales fell 1 percent to 2,814, but new home sales were 2 percent higher at 272.

The association also reported that the average sales price for new and existing homes in July was $205,109, up 4 percent from the same month last year.

The average new home price was $363,575, and the average sales price on existing homes was $190,680.

The area housing market has had a relatively stable first seven months of the year thanks to continued low mortgage rates that have drawn more buyers into the market.

As a sign of future sales activity, the association reported that pending contracts to buy new and existing homes totaled 2,136 in July. That was 5 percent lower than July 2013.

In addition, the association said the July inventory of homes had 11,372 existing homes and 1,396 new homes, a total of 12,768.

Those figures translated into a combined existing and new home supply of 5.3 months. According to the association, a five- to six-month supply of homes on the market generally represents a balanced market.

This story was originally published August 19, 2014 at 12:11 PM with the headline "Area home sales decline slightly, but prices rise."