About East Baton Rouge Parish, LA

This fall I visited a corn maize for the first time. The Baton Rouge area corn maize is north of Denham Springs on Hwy.16. The maize is a journey thru the field with clues for your family to solve at each turn to help you not get lost. It engages every member of your family, even the younger ones. For example one of the clues involves singing the song "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and deciding the direction from that song. Threre are many other twists and turns; so don't go too close to dark unless you bring a flashlight! For the more adventursome there is a haunted trail after dark on some evenings. Call to be sure before you go.

In addiiton my family loved the puppets that sang songs in the barn area where everyone gathers to catch a "cow Train" There are 2 types of rides: one a fast train and the other a bucking cow train. This was a highlight of our trip.

Additionally, there are duck rases where plastic ducks compete on water flowing from old fashioned hand pumps. (It will use up lots of your family's extra energy pumping that water!)

This morning I came across a novel idea I wanted to share. If you are looking to redo a room in staging your home for sale or just want to have a simple winter project to give a little color and light to a drab area, consider this tip from Southern Living Magazine's Anne Turner Carroll. Create Do-It-Yourself artwork by framing a colorful piece of wallpaper that you like. It's such an inexpensive and great tip that you can change up your color frequently! I am an avid reader of the magazine and highly recommend it. In the Nov.2009 issue (go get a copy for holdiay recipe ideas too) you'll find this tip plus many others for ways to "Wake Up a Tired Bedroom".

At the beginning of 2009, Baton Rouge was 9^th on Housing Predictor's midyear list of the 10 hottest housing markets for buyers. It is now was ranked 7^th on the list by midyear. Things are getting hotter and for good reason!

Housing prices in some sections of the country have been a roller coaster ride for buyers and sellers. This has caused buyers to hold off buying as they thought the prices would decline further and caused sellers to put off selling or grit their teeth and price their property low. In Baton Rouge and a few cities around the country, this has not been the pattern. They may have felt some impact of the housing recession, but the economy has generally been strong.

As previously noted in our blog Baton Rouge Area Economy Growing in Midst of Recession, Baton Rouge area housing prices have remained stable in the 9 parishes that make up the Greater Baton Rough area. Though housing sites like Trulia show that prices are down at the moment, the area is viewed as a market where prices will rise. In mid November, the average listing price of a Baton Rouge home is $259,189, with a median selling price of $167,250.

Unlike other markets, Baton Rouge has not been battered by foreclosures that would leave the landscape flooded with bank owned homes. Per the Brookings Report, there was 1 bank owned home per 1,000 mortgages. More conservative lending prices in past shielded the city from much of the housing crisis felt elsewhere.

Bask in the heat of the Baton Rouge housing market! Let Sandy and her team show you a wide selection of beautiful new and pre-owned homes in the Greater Baton Rouge area, including Baton Rouge, Prairieville, Gonzales, Denham Springs, Watson, Walker, Central, Greenwell Springs, Zachary, Baker, Port Allen, Brusly, Geismar, and St Amant. We can also you answer any questions you might have about the home buyer's ttax credit - $8,000 first time buyers or $6,500 for repeat buyers.

Business Week recently named Baton Rouge one of the U.S. Metro's Least Touched by Recession as well as placed it as No. 8 on the magazine's list of Top 10 Metros in the U.S. Based on a Booking's Institute's assessment of the economic health of 100 cities with populations over 600,000. Baton Rouge fared well in the four areas studied: job growth, gross metro product, unemployment change, and home price change.

As the capitol of Louisiana, Baton Rouge has a stable base of government employment plus a strong, expanding energy sector and a strong educational sector. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the vibrant economy in Baton Rouge has been sparked in part by a construction boom. Thousands of displaced families arrived in Baton Rouge after Hurricane Katrina and temporarily doubled the population.

Not everyone stayed, but the influx of people, as well as rampant property destruction, spurred demand for services and activity in the residential and commercial construction. Currently, there are $5.1 billion of commercial construction projects underway, which includes Katrina repair and corporate expansion. ExxonMobil (XOM), for example, is building a new chemical plant, while the French company SNF is building a new plant in the area.

This activity has made for good job growth and lower than average unemployment. Baton Rough unemployment is currently 7.1%, a good 3% lower than the national average. Wage growth has been weak.

It has also maintained the gross metropolitan product (GMP), which measures the value of all goods and services produced in the area. Baton Rouge peaked in 2009 and hasn't declined much. This indicates that demand has remained stable, despite the recession.

In the Baton Rouge area, housing prices were up 3.3% in through June 30, 2009 according to the recent report mentioned in BusinessWeek, and have remained stable in the 9 parishes that make up the Greater Baton Rough area. Though housing sites like Trulia show that prices are down in the city of Baton Rouge at the moment, the area is viewed as a market where prices will rise.

The Greater Baton Rouge area includes nine parishes - Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Livingston, Point Coupee, St. Helena, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana.

Beat the recession blues! Buy a new home in Baton Rouge! Let Sandy and her team show you a wide selection of beautiful new and pre-owned homes in the Greater Baton Rouge area, including Baton Rouge, Prairieville, Gonzales, Denham Springs, Watson, Walker, Central, Greenwell Springs, Zachary, Baker, Port Allen, Brusly, Geismar, and St Amant. We can also you answer any questions you might have about the home buyer's tax credit - $8,000 first time buyers or $6,500 for repeat buyers.

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