Either it's been a slow news week, or Baton Rouge Real Estate is heating up!! In several articles this week, both in the newspaper and on line business report, it was reported that the Baton Rouge Real Estate Market was down 18%, comparing July '08 to July '09. However, the median sales price has gone up, AGAIN!!! That is interesting because I have found that the average sales price for Ascension, East Baton Rouge, and Livingston Parishes combined, had never gone down! In fact, since hurricane Katrina, the market, as a whole, has continued to increase in value, but the days on the market have gotten longer and longer. I also know, that before Katrina, you needed to own your property for about 3 years to break even when selling (considering fees, etc.). That same stat holds true today. The people who bought in 2006-early 2007 really brought at the height of the market. And many paid over full value for their homes. In many cases, they will have to hold those properties for about 5 years to break even. Each case is unique and should be analyzed that way. This is just food for thought, as they say.
On a even more interesting note, we all have been aware that the upper end of our market has been very stalemated - and we think this had a lot to do with the economy in general, and the stock market, in particular. However, the Pat Wattam Team has received contracts, THIS week, on an $800+K, $600+K, $500K properties - all in the same week!!!! This has been unheard of for the past year. Does this mean that there is confidence in the Baton Rouge Real Esate Market, or confidence in the economy as a whole? We don't know. Once these homes get past the home inspections, appraisals, ect. and get closed, it will boost the upper end market once more!!! It will be interesting at the end of the 4th quarter to compare sales in the upper end and see if they have come back to normal.
Remember this time last year, Baton Rouge Market was humming along quite nicely, then hurricane Gustav hit, then the stock market and economy basically took a nose dive! If you look at last years stats you will see the market drop in half starting in October. Not surprising after the hit our area took from Gustav!!! I always wondered if Gustav had not hit, what would our market have looked like - would we have weathered the stock market hit??
For a final thought, this time of year, just as school starts back up, is generally a very slow time in real estate - in fact, many Realtors take off a couple of weeks at this time of year. This year, my team is working like crazy, showing houses, writing offers, and closing properties. Something is going on in our market, and I'm glad that we are, so far, still not in the distress situation many cities our size find themselves facing! Good news for Baton Rouge!!