Johnson County housing market had slow start in January

Johnson County’s housing market started the year largely with mixed results, reflecting winter weather and seasonal conditions.

The County Economic Research Institute said in its latest report that overall home sale prices climbed 8.4 percent in January to $270,800, from the same month in 2014.

The average new home sold for $479,200 in January while the average price on an existing home sale was $243,600, the research institute said.

Total home sales were essentially flat in January from a year earlier. There were 502 homes sold in the county in the first month of 2015, compared with 509 in January 2014, the organization said.

As for residential building permits, only 92 were issued in January, down 9 percent, or 9 permits from the same month in 2014.

Permits for apartments and other multi-family units also fell, from 402 in January 2014 to 108 this year.

Other economic results:

▪  Johnson County’s unemployment rate stood at 3.7 percent in January, compared with 4.3 percent in January 2014. The overall unemployment rate in Kansas was 4 percent in December 2014, and 5 percent in Kansas City.

▪ The total number of county residents employed was 307,700 in the first month of 2015, up 1.8 percent from January 2014. Tht total civilian labor pool in January stood at 319,600.

This story was originally published April 3, 2015 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Johnson County housing market had slow start in January."