Baton Rouge and New Orleans Show Positive Real Estate Growth
Established as an tool that keeps track of housing recovery, the National Association of Home Builders / First American Leading Markets Index (LMI) averages housing numbers over 350 small metro markets to determine the rate of growth or stagnation of the real estate industry. The LMI monitors these markets and evaluates them for three different factors: average number of permits, average home prices, and employment numbers. These numbers are pulled and compared to the following:
- Average number of permits in the metro area during the last years of normalcy, which the LMI says were the years 2000-2003.
- Home prices in the metro area during the last years of normalcy – 2000 – 2003.
- Employment numbers from 2007.
Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana were in the top 10 markets that show impressive growth in all areas with Baton Rouge being number one at 39% growth year-over-year. The report showed that 89% of the markets are showing improvement with 56 total markets exceeding positive improvement. Compared to numbers reported in October, 2013, where 85% of the markets showed improvement with 52 markets 
showing positive growth, the housing recover continues to recover at a steady pace.
During the Recession, and even when the federal government announced the end of the Recession, predictions for the U.S. real estate industry remained cautious and realistic in its upward climb out of the collapse. Sources familiar with the statistics had actually predicted that 2015 would be the year that the real estate market would finally be coming back to normal numbers. During 2013 with the increase in home prices and 2014, the real estate market showed considerable positive signs of profitability increasing builder confidence for a majority of the year for both years.
The LMI also stated that 22 markets out of the 350 showed a full recovery because their building permits met or exceeded pre-Recession numbers. This trend is expected to continue as long as employment numbers continue to increase. In St. Tammany Parish, a county north of the Greater New Orleans area, home prices from mid-2013 to mid-2014 increased by 2%, which has increased movement in real estate because homeowners are finally able to put their homes on the market and sell them within a reasonable period of time. If you are considering selling your home and moving, check out Bedico Creek Preserve in Madisonville, LA. To schedule a tour of our Lots for Sale and Homes for Sale, Call 985-845-4200 or E-mail [email protected].
