Baton Rouge area home sales drop in November

Baton Rouge-area home sales dropped by 16% in November from the year before, the result of continued tough comparisons with the sales gains resulting from the August 2016 flood.

There were 780 homes sold in metro Baton Rouge during November, according to figures released Thursday by the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors' Multiple Listing Service. That compares with 932 MLS sales in the nine-parish region during October 2016.

To put the numbers in context, in November 2015, the Realtors association said there were 643 MLS sales.

The August 2016 flood dramatically increased the local demand for homes. Tens of thousands of people in the capital region sustained severe damage to their homes and some were forced to buy new residences. At the same time, investors and bargain hunters were buying flood-damaged properties at a discount and rebuilding them for lease or sale.

Baton Rogue
State Capitol of Louisiana, Baton Rouge

In East Baton Rouge Parish, which accounts for the largest segment of the local housing market, there were 419 MLS sales in November, a 19.3% drop from the 519 sales a year earlier.

Livingston Parish, which was hardest hit by the flood, saw sales plunge even further, 41.2% to 117 from 199.

Ascension Parish saw a 9.5% sales gain from 147 MLS sales to 161.

The median sale price for a home areawide was $191,230 in November, up from the $175,000 median sale price a year earlier. That means half of the homes sold in the market went for below that price, half for above that price.

Pending sales were down 13.3% to 727 from 839. New listings were down 5.6% to 961 from 1,018.

The number of homes for sale were up 8.1% to 3,262 from 3,525. The supply of houses for sale rose slightly from 3.6 months to 3.8 months. The number of days on the market rose from 53 in November 2016 to 57.

Year-to-date, there were 10,290 homes sold in metro Baton Rouge, a 4.9% increase over the 8,813 sales through November 2016.

The median sale price was $189,900, up 0.5 percent from the year before.

Sales are up 7.5% to 1,902 in Livingston, 3.4% to 5,600 in East Baton Rouge and 3.2% to 1,806 in Ascension through the first 11 months of last year.

Tribune Content Agency
Purchase Housing markets Home prices Real estate Louisiana
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