September Stats: New Orleans? Healthier? Us?

by Dave Christie

Despite mortgage rates hovering at or slightly above 8%, the real estate market in New Orleans is much healthier than it is in many parts of the country. Seriously.

Yes, closed sales are off significantly from their pandemic peak in June 2021 - down a whopping 61%. The number of showings per listing is close to half of what it was. So we know buyers are sitting on the sidelines for now.

Here's the good news -in much of the U.S., the number of homes for sale hasn't recovered from the severe shortage we had during the pandemic. As a result, prices are still increasing, even in this difficult buying market. That's not the case here in New Orleans.

The amount of inventory we have is almost identical to what it was 7 years ago. That's allowed prices to level off, then drop slightly since their meteoric (and unhealthy) rise betweern 2020-2022.

This is good news. The New Orleans real estate market is reflecting economic realities. That's not happening in many other cities, which is causing an affordability crisis.

With mortgage rates not expected to drop significantly in the next 9 months, expect to see median prices stay flat or drop slightly. We needed this breather after the huge increases during the COVID market.