Strengthening in the Suburbs Is Good News for New Orleans Metro Communities
Wade Ragas, real estate consultant and owner of Real Property Associates continually analyzes sales reports for new homes and previously-owned homes, as well as new home starts, new home trends, the monthly supply of homes for sale on the market, and many other real estate related information in order to present his findings to local Realtor and Builder Associations. These types of informative seminars aid in the strategic planning of builders and Realtors for their quarterly planning. Ragas recently gave a talk to the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors for his twice-yearly report and announced the median home prices have pretty much stayed the same in the Greater New Orleans area from 2013 – 2014.
Regular home sales in the Greater New Orleans area showed a cost of $153/square foot with an average cost of $309,533 which is actually down from the major price increases during 2012 – 2013 where the average price rose to $325,348. A 3.1% increase in price year-over-year was reported compared to an 8% increase from 2012 – 2013. Another reason the cost was so much lower were that the homes sold reported lower living square footage, so homes sold overall were smaller.
The most drastic change in statistics that Ragas reported was that the cost to purchase a home to renovate or “flip” it has increased on average 40% year-over-year for the same time period. The average price jumped from $52,669 to $71,845 to purchase a home in need of a renovation.
The most important aspect of his study of real estate statistics for the Parks of Plaquemines, located just 10.2 miles from the Central Business District, showed that strengthening in the suburbs is good news for New Orleans Metro communities. Home sales in the 8 parishes around New Orleans increased by 7.5% from 11,160 – 12,000 with home sales in Jefferson Parish, the parish adjacent to the Parks of Plaquemines up by 2.3%. The cost per square foot to buy a home in Jefferson Parish was approximately $104 / square foot which is only slightly off the $105 / square foot to buy a home pre-Katrina. Ragas also reported that most of the high volume of home sales in Jefferson Parish was on the West Bank, which is a sign that real estate on the West Bank may finally be taking a turn upwards from the real estate slump during the Recession.
Prices going up are not necessarily a bad thing, and recovery in the suburb, West Bank areas of the Greater New Orleans area means that people are moving back into our communities and may be interested in purchasing a new home for sale in the Parks of Plaquemines, right next to Jefferson Parish on the West Bank and an easy commute to New Orleans for work. To learn more about our homes for sale and lots for sale, Contact Us at 504-364-2350 or E-mail [email protected].