“World's Most Complete Neighborpedia”
Explore:   What's happening in your neck of the woods?

Don Stern ~ Greater Baton Rouge Real Estate

Zip 70818 - Builder Advice

A builder client of mine called yesterday. He told me that he'd been offered some lots in the Hampton Village subdivision in Central. He wanted to know what I thought of building spec homes in that area. Here's what I wrote back to him.

Baton Rouge Real Estate - Zip Code 70818 Analysis

With respect to the 70818 (Central) zip code area here is a chart showing unit sales from 2002 through the end of 2007.

Baton Rouge Real Estate - 70818 Unit Sales

As you can see it hasn't really been a growth area in either the new construction or resale markets. Throughout 2007, new construction averaged less than 2 sales per month.
Baton Rouge Real Estate - 70818 New Construction Absorption by price range

The new construction absorption chart shows that overall there were about 1.7 homes per month (20 homes total) sold in the 70818 zip code area during 2007 in all price ranges and that in any price range there was less than one home sold per month. The highest velocity of new home sales was in the $251-300K price range but only 7 homes for the entire year were sold.

In terms of the selling price per square foot of living area, the highest velocity was achieved in the $100-$109.99/sq.ft. range where 14 of the 20 homes sold were priced.

Baton Rouge Real Estate - 70818 New Construction Absorption by $/sq.ft.

Baton Rouge Real Estate - Hampton Village

With respect to Hampton Village, there are currently three homes under contract and pending. They are all D.R. Horton homes and were priced between $104.38 and $112.01 /sq.ft.. We won't know the actual selling price until they close. During 2007, 11 new homes sold in this subdivision at an average price of $293,065. On average, they were priced at $106.97/sq.ft. and all were D.R. Horton homes. There are currently six active listings for new construction in the subdivision. Five are listed as proposed construction (and not counted in the inventory in the absorption charts above) and one is listed as being under construction. These six homes are listed for an average of $316,517 at an average price point of $128.80/sq.ft.

I would advise extreme caution with respect to investing in new construction in this area. Unless something happens, a large employer coming to town for example, the demand for new construction in Central is very limited. I couldn't find any lots in Hampton Village listed so I'm not sure what they've been offered to you for but unless you can be profitable in the $105/sq.ft. price range building a home of about 2500 sq.ft. there don't seem to be any undersupplied niches.

As always, I welcome readers to visit my websites at www.TheHomeVendor.com, www.DonAndAlishaStern.com or www.LiveAscension.com for real estate information about and to search for homes within the Greater Baton Rouge area. Click here to search for homes.

©2008 by Don Stern - all rights reserved

Pelican Point 2007 Year-end Market Summary

Pelican Point Real Estate 2007 Year-end Market Analysis

2007 was not a particularly good year for real estate in Pelican Point. Not only was it affected by the gloom and doom reported in the national press and the problems with mortgage lenders but the primary road into the subdivision was closed for nearly six months. Those six months included most of the peak selling season for real estate in our area. Overall, the real estate market in the parish is doing well. Home prices are holding. While unit sales volumes in the parish have dropped below the post-Katrina boom years of 2005 and 2006, they have only dropped back to pre-Katrina levels. I'm encouraged and quite hopeful that 2008 will be a better year for Real Estate in Pelican Point.

Pelican Point Real Estate 2007 Market Statistics

28 new homes and 32 homes in the re-sale market sold during 2007 at an average selling price/sq.ft. of $135.24 and $125.40 respectively.

Pelican Point Real Estate Sales Price 2002-2007

This chart shows that, while the average selling price of new construction grew in 2007, the average selling price of a home in the re-sale market fell by almost 9% from a high of $336K in 2006 to $307K in 2007.

Pelican Point Real Estate Sales Volume 2002-2007

As we said before, 2007 was not a particularly good year for real estate in Pelican Point. This chart show a significant drop in overall sales volume in both market segments but particularly with respect to new home sales.

Pelican Point Real Estate Absorption Rates


With 70 homes currently listed (not counting FSBO's) for sale within the subdivision, it is a buyer's market. There is approximately a 14-month supply of homes in both market segments (new and re-sale.) The charts above also show that the highest velocity of home sales in 2007 was in the $130.00-$130.99/sq.ft. price range for new homes and in the $120.00-129.99 price range for homes in the re-sale market segment.

I will be continuing to closely monitor and report on the state of the market so visit often.

Please feel free to leave comments. You can also reach me at (225) 413-3624 or by e-mail.

As always, I welcome readers to my websites at www.PelicanPointHomes.net and www.LiveAscension.com for real estate information about and to search for homes within the Greater Baton Rouge area. Click here to search for homes.

Don Stern

Senior Real Estate Consultant

Good day after all

Okay, so I wasn't feeling too good today. People weren't returning calls, I wasn't having any luck tracking down the owners of some lots, some former clients haven't paid for services rendered and I'm getting ready to send the IRS it's share for the quarter.

Then I read the You Have To See This Video, You Are Capable Of Extraordinary Things! UPDATED! and was really moved. Following that I saw this from my living room windows...

Amazing Sunset

I feel better now :)

Amazing Sunset