Kansas City is the largest city in Missouri, with a population of about 500,000 citizens.
Kansas City has a rich musical history, and is often considered one of the original homes of jazz music along with New Orleans, Chicago, St. Louis, and New York City. As a result, the city has several live music venues, most of which are located in the Westport entertainment district. The city is also annual host to the “Kansas City Blues and Jazz Festival,” which attracts large audiences yearly.
Kansas City is headquarters to many Fortune 500 companies including H&R Block, Sprint Nextel Corporation, and YRC Worldwide Inc., as well as the privately owned Hallmark Cards. Kansas City is one of ten regional office cities for the U.S Government, and as a result the U.S Government is Kansas City’s largest employer, with more than 146 federal agencies maintaining offices within the city. In addition to government employment, the Kansas City economy also has large manufacturing, trade & transport, construction, and business service industries.
The real estate market in Kansas City was not impacted by the recession as severely as most of the country. Property values spiked briefly in 2003, with the median sales price of all KC properties going up to $109,000, and then promptly returning to a more appropriate $60,000 in 2004. Since then, property values have consistently been rising, with today’s median sales price hovering around $80,000. The last several years have demonstrated that Kansas City’s housing market is stable and the perfect place to make a confident investment.