The Moores are among hundreds of homebuyers turning to duplexes in lieu of pricier, single-family homes. Although statistics don’t distinguish between duplexes built for lease and those for sale, permits for “two-family” housing have tripled for Wichita area in the last six years —from 250 in 2018 to 754 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Professor Stan Longhofer, director of Wichita State University’s Center for Real Estate, said the reason for this growth is simple: buyers want to save money and developers want to profit from their investments at a time when construction costs have increased 47% since the pandemic. Wess Galyon, president and CEO of the Wichita Area Builders Association, estimated that 10% of the new duplexes get sold to individuals and not, as still happens, to large investment firms that lease them by the hundreds.
Source: KLC Journal
