KC Condo Tracker

Ready for some good news in real estate? The Kansas City condo market is moving.Since the first of the year, 268 condominiums have sold or went under contract in the greater KC metro (out of 1149 on the market).  Downtown and on the Plaza, 62 have sold or went under contract since Jan. 1, 2009.

Last year buyers had more time to dwell, drag their feet or think. Things are already looking differently this year.

Looking for a discounted condo that hasn't been snatched up quite yet? Here's a list of 13 great-buy condos that are either corporate, bank owned, or deeply discounted.

On March 1 Fannie Mae added lending restrictions that make it more difficult for certain condo developers to sell their units. The government backed mortgage company stopped guaranteeing mortgages in condo buildings that haven't sold 51% of their units or to buildings where 15% of current owners are deliquent on association fees.

Our prediction is this is an interim policy to get the country through the subprime lending mess, but for right now buyers best options is to stick to tried and true condo developments or ones that are FHA approved or can be spot FHA approved. Read more about Fannie's tightening in the WSJ article. To learn which condo developments are or are not FHA approved, email me.

I had coffee the other day with Dave Pecha, former owner of the River Market Brewery, which had a 15-year presence downtown. Dave said he couldn't toe the line any more with swings of 5K to 10K drops in revenue each month. He wasn't happy about the preferential treatment the city gave Power & Light restaurants and bars tax wise and other wise either.

Regardless of the cause of the demise of the Brewery, Bar Natasha, Delaware Care, the Mango Room and a handful of other downtown restaurants and bars as of late, I wanted to say thanks for all the good memories, dinners and drinks I had at each of your establishments.

It is painful and sad to watch businesses, that I consider good friends, go. And to put things into perspective, giants on the retail side are closing their doors too (Sharper Image, CompUSA, Circuit City).

Dave, thanks for the brews, the laughs, the music, the fish and chips, and the friendship. I'll miss your corner watering hole very much.