Analytics built by: Location, Inc.
Raw data sources: American Community Survey (U.S. Census Bureau), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Methodology: NeighborhoodScout uses over 600 characteristics to build a neighborhood profile… Read more about Scout's Real Estate Data
With 495,327 people, 200,420 houses or apartments, and a median cost of homes of $182,444, Kansas City real estate and house prices are near the national average for all cities and towns.
Single-family detached homes are the single most common housing type in Kansas City, accounting for 62.30% of the city's housing units. Other types of housing that are prevalent in Kansas City include large apartment complexes or high rise apartments ( 24.91%), duplexes, homes converted to apartments or other small apartment buildings ( 7.28%), and a few row houses and other attached homes ( 4.62%).
The most prevalent building size and type in Kansas City are three and four bedroom dwellings, chiefly found in single-family detached homes. The city has a mixture of owners and renters, with 52.34% owning and 47.66% renting.
At the end of World War II, American soldiers returned home triumphant and, with the help of the GI Bill, built homes by the millions on the edges of America's cities. These homes were predominantly capes and ranches, modest in size, but built to house a growing middle-class as the 20th century became the American century. Kansas City's housing was primarily built during this period, from the '40s through the '60s. A full 34.19% of the city's housing hails from this era. Other housing ages represented in Kansas City include homes built between 1970-1999 ( 30.22%) and housing constructed before 1939 ( 21.71%). There's also some housing in Kansas City built between 2000 and later ( 13.89%).
Vacant housing appears to be an issue in Kansas City. Fully 12.99% of the housing stock is classified as vacant. Left unchecked, vacant Kansas City homes and apartments can be a drag on the real estate market, holding Kansas City real estate prices below levels they could achieve if vacant housing was absorbed into the market and became occupied. Housing vacancy rates are a useful measure to consider, along with other things, if you are a home buyer or a real estate investor.
Appreciation rates for homes in Kansas City have been tracking above average for the last ten years, according to NeighborhoodScout data. The cumulative appreciation rate over the ten years has been 42.60%, which ranks in the top 30% nationwide. This equates to an annual average Kansas City house appreciation rate of 3.61%.
Appreciation rates are so strong in Kansas City that despite a nationwide downturn in the housing market, Kansas City real estate has continued to appreciate in value faster than most communities. Looking at just the latest twelve months, Kansas City appreciation rates continue to be some of the highest in America, at 6.14%, which is higher than appreciation rates in 88.29% of the cities and towns in the nation. Based on the last twelve months, short-term real estate investors have found good fortune in Kansas City. Kansas City appreciation rates in the latest quarter were at 2.64%, which equates to an annual appreciation rate of 10.99%.
Importantly, NeighborhoodScout’s exclusive research found that Kansas City's housing market shows one of the <a href="/blog/highest-appreciating-cities">top real estate appreciation rates in the U.S.A.</a> in the latest quarter, which may signal the city’s near-future real estate investment strength.
Relative to Missouri, our data show that Kansas City's latest annual appreciation rate is higher than 90% of the other cities and towns in Missouri.
One very important thing to keep in mind is that these are average appreciation rates for the city. Individual neighborhoods within Kansas City differ in their investment potential, sometimes by a great deal. Fortunately, you can use NeighborhoodScout to pinpoint the exact neighborhoods in Kansas City - or in any city or town - that have the best track record of real estate appreciation, by the latest quarter, the last year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, or even since 2000, to assist you in making the best Kansas City real estate investment or home purchase decisions.
Average for Nation
High for MO