For the second straight month, home sales in the eight-parish Capital Region fell in May, compared to the same month last year.
Home sales were down 7.6% in May, according to the latest monthly report from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors, released this afternoon. GBRAR suggests low inventory—the number of homes for sale in the region fell by 15.8% to 3,554 in May—played a role in the lower sales in April and May.
“It’s hard to sell what isn’t there,” GBRAR says in a news release accompanying the figures. “For the second month in a row … inventory level dropped noticeably year over year, resulting in 4.4 months supply of inventory.”
The lower months supply of inventory figure suggests an ever strengthening seller’s market. Realtors typically view any reading under six months to indicate a seller’s market. The figure reflects how long it would take to sell all of the homes on the market at the current sales pace. In May last year, the months supply of inventory was 5.8 months.
A total of 848 homes were sold in the eight-parish region last month, down from 918 in May 2015. Despite the decline—and a 4% drop in sales in April—year-to-date sales this year remain above the 2014 tally through May. The 3,613 homes sold thus far this year is a 2.8% increase over the 3,514 sold through May last year.
Other data from the GBRAR report—which includes data from East Baton Rouge, Ascension, Livingston, West Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, West Feliciana, Iberville and Pointe Coupee parishes—show:
- East Baton Rouge Parish sales rose 0.2% in May, with one more home selling last month—a total of 503—than was sold in May last year. Year to date, sales in EBR are up 5.3%.
- Ascension Parish sales fell 13.8%, with 144 sales, down from 167 last May. Year to date, sales in Ascension are down 2.9%.
- Livingston Parish sales fell 12%, with 139 sales, down from 158 last May. Year to date, sales in Livingston are up 9%.
- Average sale prices are increasing across the Capital Region. At $225,411 in May, the average sales price was up 9.7% over the $205,478 average recorded last May.
- Average days on the market are decreasing in the region. In May, homes sold on average after 80 days on the market, down from 85 days last May.
Access the complete May sales report from GBRAR.
—Steve Sanoski
