Livingston Parish Real Estate Market Report

February Update

This update examines data extracted from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors MLS database. The data were extracted a of 3/7/08 and represent closed sales and active inventory of detached single family dwellings.

February unit sales of both new construction and homes in the re-sale market segment are down compared to February 2007. New construction is only down a tiny bit but homes in the re-sale segment are down substantially from February 2007.

Looking at all periods, unit sales in both market segments have retracted to pre-Katrina norms and we should observe increases in unit sales during March.
Dollar sales in both market segments are also down but are, in general, higher than pre-Katrina dollar volume.
The average selling price of new construction and re-sale homes has dropped 3.5% and 3.6% respectively when compared with 2007. The softness in the new construction sales price is attributable to the January averages. The average price in February 2007 was significantly ahead of the average in February 2007. If January was anomalous then we should see the average price of new construction sold in 2008 run ahead of 2007. We'll monitor this closely to be sure.
Inventory levels are, more or less, flat and, with the expected seasonal upturn in volume, I predict a neutral market in the parish at least through May.
Please feel free to contact me with any comments or suggestions regarding this analysis.

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

Contact me via e-mail or call me at (225) 413-3624 for more information.

©2008 by Don Stern - All Rights Reserved

East Baton Rouge Parish Real Estate Market Report

February Update

This update examines data extracted from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors MLS database. The data were extracted a of 3/7/08 and represent closed sales and active inventory of detached single family dwellings.

Unit sales are up overall as well as in both the new and re-sale market segments although unit sales of homes in the re-sale segment are at or near historic lows for the five-year period examined.

Similarly, dollar volumes are also up in both segments.
Looking at February sales since 2003 we can see that unit sales are significantly lower for homes in the re-sale market segment while unit sales of new homes are more or less at pre-Katrina levels and very slightly ahead of 2007. The slide in the re-sale market will be monitored closely to see if this is just a single point anomaly or an indicator of some other market dynamic.
Prices in the new home market segment continue to show growth. The average price of a home in 2008 has been 5.8% higher than in 2007. On the other hand, the average price of a home in the re-sale segment have declined by more than $11K from the high of $198,767 in 2007. Again, the softness of this market segment bears close attention in the coming months.
Inventories are remaining fairly flat. For the new home segment, it is a buyer's market with 9.4 months of inventory but overall it is still a neutral market in the parish with 6.4 months supply of inventory.

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

Contact me via e-mail or call me at (225) 413-3624 for more information.

©2008 by Don Stern - All Rights Reserved

Ascension Parish Real Estate Market Report

February Update

This update examines data extracted from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors MLS database. The data were extracted a of 3/7/08 and represent closed sales and active inventory of detached single family dwellings.

Unit sales for homes in the re-sale market segment were the same in February 2008 as in the previous year. The new construction market segment, however, continued to show weakness with February unit sales still at a five year low and less than half of what they were in the previous year.

The average February sales price of both new and re-sale homes were at five year highs. The average selling price of a previously owned home in February 2008 was 7.8% higher than in the previous year while new home prices averaged 12.7% more in February 2008 than in February 2007.
Looking at unit sales for all periods from January 2003, we observe more or less normal seasonality changes in the re-sale market segment. The number of previously owned homes sold is beginning to rise as would be expected at this time of the year.
New construction unit sales, however, dropped again in February although not as severely as in previous months.
Although the average price of a new home was up, as previously pointed out, the drop in unit sales caused overall sales dollar volume for new homes to be near historic lows. On a positive note, the dollar volume was up a bit from the previous month.
Dollar volume of home sales in the re-sale market segment rose again in February and are higher than pre-Katrina volumes.
Inventory levels are climbing slightly in both the re-sale and new construction market segments
In the new construction segment, most of the inventory growth was in homes priced between $200K and $300K.
In conclusion, the re-sale market segment is quite healthy with unit sales and home values improving. The new construction segment, however, is soft. It appears that the softness in unit sales can be attributed, at least in part, to the rather steep rise in prices. With inventories of new construction rising and unit sales falling off, savvy home buyers and their Realtor® should be able to find builders willing to negotiate on price and/or additional consessions or features.

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

Contact me via e-mail or call me at (225) 413-3624 for more information.

©2008 by Don Stern - All Rights Reserved

Livingston Parish Real Estate Market Analysis

January 2008 Update

This interim report supplements my 2007 Year-end Residential Real Estate Report. This update examines data extracted from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors database for detached single family residences in Livingston Parish.

The first chart looks at unit sales for the parish in January of each of the years between 2003 and 2008. New construction unit sales for January 2008 was typical for January excluding January of 2006, immediately following Hurricane Katrina. Sales of homes in the re-sale market segment, however were the 2nd highest of any year of the past five... a sign of the strength of the market.

January 2008, saw a slight decline in average home prices in both market segments.

Thus far, unit sales are consistent with historical seasonality changes in both the new construction and re-sale market segments

Examining the 6-month moving averages for average sales price within the two market segments, it appears that there has been a larger than normal drop in average sales price than historical seasonality might suggest.

As in both Ascension and East Baton Rouge parishes, inventory levels for both market segments are pretty flat.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions on how to improve my market reports, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

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

Contact me via e-mail or call me at (225) 413-3624 for more information.

©2008 by Don Stern - All Rights Reserved

East Baton Rouge Parish Real Estate Market Analysis

January 2008 Update

This interim report supplements my 2007 Year-end Residential Real Estate Report. This update examines data extracted from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors database for detached single family residences in East Baton Rouge Parish.

The first chart looks at unit sales for the parish in January of each of the years between 2003 and 2008. We can see in both the new construction and re-sale market segments that unit sales for January 2008 are lower than in any of the previous five years.

The next chart shows that prices are improving despite the decrease in volume. The average price of a home in both market segments was higher in January of 2008 than in any of the previous five years.

This chart shows that overall sales $ volume is down. The six-month average of sales $ volume remains higher than in pre-Katrina time periods.

Unit sales are down overall, as the following chart illustrates.

The final chart shows that inventory levels in both market segments remains roughly level. With lower unit sales (i.e. absorption rate), the months supply will increase. Without improvement in unit sales over the course of the next few months, we may begin to see a shift toward a buyers market.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions on how to improve my market reports, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

---

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

Contact me via e-mail or call me at (225) 413-3624 for more information.

©2008 by Don Stern - All Rights Reserved