By james art 
2024 It’s been a good year for the Baton Rouge area’s high-end residential market. So good that this year’s most expensive home sale on public record was $6.75 million, almost 70% higher than last year’s top transaction of $4 million.
But 2024 didn’t come without its obstacles, notes Kita Cutrer of Burns & Co.
“I think everything was much more difficult because it was an election year … and the uncertainty around interest rates,” she says. “Insurance was our biggest problem because all the insurance companies left the state. We had a lot of little obstacles last year that we didn’t have the year before.”
One trend Cutrer noticed was the increase in off-market sales. She says she had four such sales last year, ranging from $1.6 million to $3 million. One reason for the surge in off-market activity is the lack of inventory. Agents looked elsewhere than the MLS.
“Sometimes you’ve called people who have indicated to you in the past that they’re ready to sell their home,” she says.
Cutrer adds that the trend appears to be continuing this year, although the start of each year is often slow. Most people looking to sell their homes put them on the market in the spring.
Jerry Del Rio of Del Rio Real Estate Inc. agrees.
“Homes are coming on the market, but they’re not really moving,” Del Rio says. “In the spring, I expect things to change and the market to improve with the upper end. We are planning a luxury tour in one area of the city, all over $1.5 million. This shows you that the agents are trying to move them.
Both specialists are optimistic about the market for 2025.
“I think people are more optimistic this year that we don’t have a pandemic or a lot of negativity [things] continues,” Cutrer says. “I also think we’re going to get more inventory in the market and that way you’re going to have competition.”