We looked at 2024 Housing prices at Metro Baton Rouge. Here’s what we found – the advocate

The shortage of homes at affordable prices at Metro Baton Rouge has created opportunities for entrepreneurs such as Kelvin Jones.

Jones has purchased four houses in some of the poorest neighborhoods of Baton Rouge and Baker, rehabilitated them and then sold them to buyers for the first time.

“Some of the places we bought were almost convicted,” he said. He is currently rehabilitating Rosenwald Road, for which he paid $ 40,000. Jones plans to invest about $ 70,000, restoring the bone to bone and hopes to sell it between $ 160,000 and $ 180,000. He made a similar deal on several streets, where he bought a $ 42,000 house, scored a $ 65,000 job and sold it for $ 173,000.

“It’s added value,” he said.

The activities of Jones and other distributors have helped to increase the average prices of sales from $ 85,000 to $ 144,500 in the postcode 70807, which includes neighborhoods such as Scotlandville, Park Vista and Southern Heights.

“I really think there are money in areas like North Baton Rouge,” said Tomika Simon. Her business, Carpe Diem Investment Properties, has purchased five houses and fixed them for sale or use as Airbnb sites.

Simon said she had purchased a house on Oriole Street for $ 28,500, spent about $ 10,000, fixing it and making it nearly $ 27,500 last year while using it as a fully furnished rent. She bought a house on Chin Street for $ 23,500, then sold it for $ 130,000. People who buy her houses are striving to settle permanently in the area. “They plan to keep it and leave it to their grandchildren,” she said.

While housing sales dropped at the national level for the second consecutive year due to increased mortgage rates and higher prices of housing, Metro Baton Rouge did better. Housing sales at East Baton Rouge, Ascension and Livingston The parishes increased in 2024, according to the data provided by the larger Bangton Association Association of Numerous Registration Services. These three parishes represent 75% of sales in the nine-box Baton Rouge subway. Common sales have decreased by 0.2%, or 17 years a year in the MLS region.

Average sales prices increased annually to 22 Metro Baton Rouge postal codes as they dropped to 18, according to the brokers Association. Prices in the postcode 70739, which blocked Eastern Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes, have been unchanged since 2023.

At East Baton Rouge, average sales prices increased by 1%to come to $ 265,657. The sale price in Ascension increased by 5.3%to complete the year of $ 315,000. Livingston was unchanged at $ 240,000.

Overall, sales prices in the higher dollar post codes, such as the University Club, the Rural Club of Louisiana, LSU Lakes, America in Zahari and Conway in Gonzales, Sea decreases.

Crystal Bonin, brokers specializing in Zachary and Felicianas, attributes lower sales prices to this large-volume builder market entering the area and build cheaper homes.

“For the first time, buyers receive all these purchase deals and do not have an interest rate that holds them,” she said.

Moderate areas like Denham Springs and Watson Saw are increasing.

But there were some exceptions to the trend towards lower sales prices. The bigger part of the postal codes in the parish parish, which has the highest overall average costs, prices rise, especially in areas such as Prairieville and Dutchtown. Parts of Baton Rouge, including neighborhoods such as Bocage and White Oak Landing.

“Offering and supply are still a real thing,” says Larry Miller, President of the Big Baton Ruzho Bron Association. If the sellers did not have to go down their prices, they did not.

Homes take longer for sale after they are listed, with average on the market increasing to 65 days compared to 54 days a year earlier.

Jennifer Hebert, a Pennant Real Estate broker at Baton Rouge, said the local home market is “really strange right now.”

“You have houses sitting for 100 days and suddenly there will be offers for them. Competitive offers, “she said.

Part of the problem is accessibility. Average sales prices are constantly increasing in Metro Baton Rouge, passing from $ 214,680 in 2020 to $ 256,500 in 2024. The average sale price for new construction passed from $ 247,000 to $ 292,000 in 2024 S

After Covid, it was difficult to find accessible homes for buyers for the first time, Hebert said. During the pandemic, people made improvements to their properties with the extra money they had as a result of federal stimulus inspections and quarantined and could not spend on traveling, entertainment and eating. And homeowners who have suffered damage from a series of hurricanes and floods have used insurance payments for recovery, which also added to the value of their houses.

In an effort to control the floods, climbing and parishes, Livingston has passed temporary moratoriums in new construction of a unit, which limited the delivery of homes.

Not to mention that borrowing money is already more expensive after the Federal Reserve has applied a series of interest rates to control inflation caused by the jump in the expenses after forge.

“Many affordable homes have reached the inaccessible homes,” Hebert said.

The inventory of houses is improving. At the end of 2024, there were 3 961 dwellings, a 9.4% jump in the previous year. But if all available houses sold at the current rate, delivery will be exhausted in 4.6 months. Balanced inventory is considered six months.

Increasing interest rates reduces stocks. Prices for a 30-year-old mortgage were from 3.5% in early 2020 to 6.9% at the end of 2024. This discourages people to sell their homes to maintain a low interest rate.

“We see the demand for buyers’ buyers ran into small waves,” Hebert said. “Instead of opening the floods, it’s a tapping.”