real estate

Black homeownership is a path to generational wealth, but many Black families in Kansas City have been prevented from buying homes due to decades-old racist lending practices. Habitat for Humanity Kansas City is helping more Black families buy homes.

As the cost to buy a home continues to rise in the Midwest, real estate experts say the regional rental market offers affordable housing options and biding your time before buying may be the smart move in 2025.

Following a slow year in the housing market, experts expect first-time Missouri homebuyers to have better prospects in 2025.

Demand for homes in Kansas is high, but construction of new homes has been slow for more than a decade. Kansas saw a significant drop in home construction after the Great Recession, contributing to a housing shortage today that drives up prices.

The law went into effect July 1 after passing nearly unanimously in the 2024 legislative session.

Racially restrictive deeds and exclusionary covenants are still scattered across the Kansas City metro, embedded deep in the bylaws of homes associations and subdivisions’ rules, even though they can no longer be enforced. Now, property owners have a way to remove the language from the documents.

Owning a home today is more expensive than ever and disproportionately out of reach for people of color. Civic Saint in Kansas City wants to use tiny homes to help close the gap and protect the environment.

A group of Kansas City homeowners sued the National Association of Realtors in 2019 over what they said were inflated commission fees. The powerful trade group, which denies wrongdoing, agreed in March to pay $418 million in damages and to adjust its commission practices, which could transform the way Americans buy and sell homes.

As state and federal lawmakers propose measures to curb how firms like VineBrook operate, tenants continue to grapple with poor maintenance and customer service.

In Kansas City's increasingly tight housing market, large investors continue to buy up homes in the area and convert them into rental properties. It forces prospective local homebuyers to compete against out-of-state corporations.

This week, Jackson County assessment director Gail McCann Beatty fielded questions from the legislature about this year’s problematic property assessments, which saw the value of properties increase by an average of 30%.

Some Jackson County residents report their property tax assessments are up 90% from two years ago. On Friday, the Jackson County Board of Equalization extended the deadline to file formal appeals.