Wichita: median sale price of existing homes was $114,900 in 2007

The median sale price of existing homes reached an all-time Wichita high, $114,900, but the number of houses sold is down by 19.8%.

Maybe the reason home sales are down is that there is a shortage in the price range buyers are looking for. Wayne Short, a former head of the Wichita Area Association of Realtors, provides a breakdown of Wichita's May home inventories by price range. While there are over four months supply of of houses under $100,00 and nine and a quarters months supply of houses between a quarter million and a half million, there were only 3.16 months supply of houses in the $100,000 to $150,000 range. You can find the data in the July 12th posting on his blog.

Builders make their fattest margins from fancier houses, but there might be some money to be made on new houses for ordinary folk.