Why Kansas City Is the Best Place to Stop Renting and Start Owning
If you have been telling yourself you will just rent for one more year, consider this your sign to break up with your landlord. Kansas City is one of the few markets left where homeownership still makes sense, financially and for your sanity, and here is why.
The average rent in Kansas City is sitting between $1,289 and $1,395 a month, depending on where you look. To rent comfortably, meaning you are not stretching your budget until it screams, Axios says you need to earn about $61,457 a year. That is a lot of money to pay someone else’s mortgage while you get exactly zero equity in return.
Now let’s talk about buying. Zillow reports the average home value in Kansas City is $251,607, up about one percent over the past year. Redfin shows the median sale price around $301,000 with homes going under contract in roughly 18 days. And here is the part no one talks about -
as of September 3, there are 447 homes for sale in Jackson County MO priced between $100,000 and $200,000. That means there are plenty of options for first time buyers to step out of the rent cycle and into something they can actually own without taking on a massive loan.
When you run the numbers, many buyers are seeing monthly payments that look almost identical to what they are paying in rent, usually in that $1,300 to $1,400 range, except the money paid toward a mortgage would build equity instead of funding their landlord’s second beach house.
Even with higher interest rates, homes in Kansas City are continuing to appreciate. The House Price Index climbed from 359.14 earlier this year to 366.23 by the second quarter. That is steady, healthy growth, not the roller coaster that other markets are riding. In other words, your money actually grows when you own here.
And let’s not ignore the lifestyle side of things. Buying in Kansas City means a yard in Waldo for your dog, a driveway in the Northland that saves you from circling the block for parking, or a loft in the Crossroads that puts you steps from coffee shops, art galleries, and First Fridays. Renting might get you those perks temporarily, but owning lets you customize your space and stay without worrying about someone else deciding your lease is up. The bottom line is simple: Kansas City is still that sweet spot, affordable, steady, and full of opportunity. While other cities are cooling off or pricing out first time buyers, Kansas City is steady and growing at a pace that lets you build wealth without maxing out your budget. If you’re ready to stop throwing money into the rent void and start building something of your own, now is the time. This could be the year you finally stop saying “one more year” and start building something real.
