B.R. home prices continue drop in November

Outpacing a national trend that saw the average U.S. home price drop by 1.4% in November, Baton Rouge home prices fell by 5.3% on the month compared to prices a year ago, says the November Home Price Index released today by CoreLogic. The figures include distressed sales. Excluding short sales and real estate–owned transactions, however, prices fell by 0.6% in both the United States and Baton Rouge. “With one month of data left to report, it appears that the healthy, non-distressed market will be very modestly down in 2011. Distressed sales continue to put downward pressure on prices and is a factor that must be addressed in 2012 for a housing recovery to become a reality,” says Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. Prices in Baton Rouge have been steadily falling in recent months. Including distressed sales, Baton Rouge saw prices decline 2.7% in August, 3.4% in September and 3.8% in October, compared to the same months in 2010. CoreLogic’s complete November Home Price Index, including national and state data, can be found here.