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 Cass County’s real estate environment is good and getting better. An excellent highway network, especially north and south from KC, underlies the area’s position as a convenient and affordable residential alternative for many areas of the metro. The dramatic housing growth over the last decade in Belton and Raymore are leading examples. Despite national and regional declines in housing over the past year, Cass County continues to see increases in housing permits, a fact that indicates the area’s demand will remain steady or decline only slightly. In fact, the Home Builders Association of Kansas City recently noted that the largest year-over-year increase in new house prices, 19 percent, occurred in Cass County, an indication of healthy continued demand here.
Commercial real estate includes retail in the Belton-Raymore corridor, as well as along Highway 71 in Harrisonville. The most dramatic development is in Belton, where Route Y between Highways 58 and 71 is being groomed into a new parkway. Significant developments are underway along what is being renamed as Markey Parkway. This new, 5-lane route will connect a growing retail area with the city’s existing commercial corridor along Missouri 58. The significance is two-fold: existing markets appear to support hundred of acres of development, and the area is only blocks from the intermodal hub and light industrial center being developed. |
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Cass County’s “bedroom” status is reflected by work travel patterns, including a willingness to enjoy the area’s rural lifestyle even if it means traveling farther. In Cass County, 64.1 percent of the area’s workers commute outside the county. Statewide, 25.2 percent of workers travel between 30 to 60 minutes, while in Cass County 40.3 percent travel as long. Similarly, 7.2 percent of the workers travel more than 60 minutes to work compared with 5.4 percent state-wide. The travel time is just 29.2 minutes.
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