Raytown, MO · Jackson County
Southwood
Built around 1960 · typically 1,291 sq ft above grade · 40 sales in twelve months
There are two entirely separate sets of Southwood plats in Jackson County with half a century between them - three filed inside Kansas City in 1909, four more inside Raytown from 1960 on.
The market here, last twelve months
Half of the homes that sold went under contract within 11 days. The median sale closed at 100.0% of asking - at list. 62% closed at or above the original list price, which is the better measure of how much room a buyer actually has.
Aggregated from Heartland MLS closed sales, twelve months to July 2026. Individual sale prices are not shown - Kansas and Missouri are non-disclosure states and MLS rules do not permit their public display. Ask for the full report.
The story of Southwoodfrom 1960
Jackson County’s recorded-plat layer dates Southwood Heights to 1960 and Southwood itself to 1963. Two later plats carry the same root name: Southwood Manor in 1971 and Southwood Gardens in 1975. source
The 1909 plats are a different place. Kansas City’s own plat record carries Southwood Extension, Southwood Annex under ordinance 2525 and Southwood Park under ordinance 3760, all accepted in 1909 and all inside Kansas City rather than Raytown. source
The Raytown plats sit inside the Raytown city limits on Jackson County’s boundary layer. source
What makes it distinctiveplanning, architecture and layout
City and school district agree here, which is not the norm in this metro: the Raytown C-2 attendance boundary covers the same ground as the Raytown municipal boundary at this location. source
What the houses are likemedian built 1960
The median home sold here was built in 1960. Most of what sells was built between 1958 and 1963. 70% of sales included finished basement space beyond the above-grade footprint - which matters here, because square footage quoted above grade can understate a house considerably.
By property type: Single Family (40).
Addresses here fall in ZIP 64138.
Compared with Raytown as a wholehow this neighborhood differs
| Southwood | Raytown | |
|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | $237,500 | $217,000 |
| Median $/sq ft | $187 | $171 |
| Median days on market | 11 | 16 |
| Median year built | 1960 | 1959 |
| Finished basement | 70% | 47% |
Both columns are medians over the same twelve months, so they are directly comparable.
What this means if you are buying in Southwoodspecific to this neighborhood
Check the plat name in full, not just the word Southwood. Southwood and Southwood Heights are the 1960 to 1963 core; Southwood Manor and Southwood Gardens are eight to fifteen years younger and were recorded separately. Then discard anything that turns out to be one of the 1909 Kansas City Southwood plats - different city, different taxing and school authorities, and a completely different housing stock. That name collision is the easiest way to mis-price a house here.
What to check in homes of this agemid-century stock
With a median year built of 1960, most homes here are mid-century stock. None of the following says anything about a specific house - they are the questions worth asking of any home of this age.
- Aluminum branch wiring appeared in homes built roughly 1965-1973 and is a specific thing to ask an inspector to look for.
- Original HVAC from this era is long past its service life, so the question is usually when it was last replaced rather than whether.
- The pre-1978 lead-paint disclosure applies to the earlier part of this range (40 CFR 745.110).
A note on older deed languagevoid and unenforceable
Deeds written in this era sometimes carry restrictive covenant language relating to race, religion or national origin. Where it appears, it is void and unenforceable in both states, and has been for decades: Missouri directs that such a recital be “ignored, as if the same never existed” source, and Kansas, where such covenants were already unlawful, added a release procedure effective 1 July 2024 source. An owner in either state may record a certificate of release, which does not alter the original document but restates that the covenant cannot be enforced. It is a paperwork question rather than a live restriction - but it is worth recognizing if it surfaces in your title work. What this language is, and how to release it.
What sold, in more detailsizes, bedroom mix and timing
Of the 40 homes sold, 35 were 3-bed, 5 were 4-bed.
Above-grade size ranged from about 1,055 to 1,800 sq ft across the middle 80% of sales, so the median alone understates how much variation there is.
Closings cluster in June, February and March, with 60% of the year's sales closing between April and September. Because closing typically follows the contract by a month or more, listing activity runs earlier than that.
Other neighborhoods in Raytown1 more with their own data
- Gregory Heights 25 sales
Thinking about Southwood?
These numbers describe what has sold. What they cannot tell you is which street, which floor plan, or what your own house would fetch here. Ask me about Southwood, or see the wider Raytown market.