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WSU Forecast: Housing Prices In Wichita Will Continue To Rise In 2019

Dan Moyle
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flickr Creative Commons
Home sales in Wichita are expected to increase again in 2019.

Home prices in Wichita should increase nearly 5 percent next year, according to a new forecast released today by the  WSU Center for Real Estate.

Home sales should grow as well. More than 10,000 homes are expected to be sold in the city in 2019, an increase of 1.4 percent.

Stan Longhofer, director of the center at Wichita State University, said the report is not all positive. The forecast projected another down year for new home construction.

For the sixth straight year, close to 1,000 homes are expected to be built in Wichita. Before the 2008 housing crisis, Wichita averaged close to 2,500 new homes per year.

“We saw a lot more construction activity in the late ’90s and early 2000s,” Longhofer said. “In recent years, after the housing downturn, we’ve really struggled to catch up.”

Housing numbers are similar across the state.

The forecast projects an average home price increase statewide of 6.3 percent in 2019.

Home sales are expected to increase by 0.4 percent across the state next year.

New home construction is expected to fall by 4.2 percent by the end of 2018, before dropping another 1.2 percent next year.

It is a seller’s market, Longhofer said, but prospective homebuyers must still remain cautious before entering the market.

“Whether or not it’s a good time to sell depends less on the market as a whole, and more on what is going on in your own personal life,” he said.

He had this advice for those looking to buy a house.

“From a buyer’s perspective … number one, you need to be locationally stable," Longhofer said. "Number two, you need to be financially stable.”

Ray Strunk is an intern in the KMUW News Lab.