A Tale of Two Markets - 2025 Orleans Parish Market Report

 

The 2025 Orleans Parish real estate market was defined by mortgage rates and homeowners insurance premiums. Sound familiar?

 

In my almost 25 years as a Realtor (gulp), I've noticed a two compromise rule. If a house on the market is asking buyers to make one significant compromise - location on a busy road or a challenging floor plan, for example - you'll be able to find a buyer when it's priced right. Years ago, I had buyers choose a home that backed to an interstate highway. They didn't want that location, but the home offered so much more than what they could otherwise get in their price range, they bought it and loved it. However, when buyers are asked to make two big compromises, it becomes exponentially more difficult to sell that home.

 

That's where our market has been. When mortgage rates climb, sales usually flatten out, but they tend to keep on keeping on. Add insurance premiums that have increased by 40-85% in the last 5 years to the mix, and that's one too many compromises. As a result, we have a market here in Orleans Parish that has dramtically split.

 

At first glance, things look pretty flat. The 2025 median price for a home is identical to what it was in 2024 and 2023. How can that be when demand has dropped and fewer homes have sold? It's not about how many properties, but which properties are selling.

 

Here are the number of homes sold in Orleans Parish under $650K, compared to over $650K

 

Properties at the higher price points are a larger percent of what's selling in New Orleans. A lot of those buyers are paying cash, which removes one of the compromises (mortgage rates). While it looks like property values have remained flat for the last 3 years, that's not the case for less expensive homes.

 

In fact, the selling environment is actually better right now for homes over $650K than those below. This has only happened once before, briefly, in 2014. 

 

What does this mean for you? If you're a buyer in $300K-$600K market especially, you'll find a friendly environment. If you're thinking about selling your home, pricing it right can be complicated right now. Don't just look at the numbers for the city as a whole. Dig down to what the market is like in your price range and in your neighborhood. Or better yet, have a Realtor do it. (I know a guy.)

 

Note for stat nerds: In the past, I was looking at monthly statistics. There aren't enough sales each month in Orleans Parish to continue to do that without getting some wild and potentially misleading swings. The overall sample size is too small. As a result, I've switched to rolling 12 month averages. The stories might be less sensational, but they'll be more reliable.