Widespread flooding in August continued to impact the Baton Rouge area real estate market in October, pushing closed home sales for the month upward by 24.4%, the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors’ monthly sales report says.
“The increase is likely [due to] the sales that were put on hold immediately after the flood,” the report notes. Closed home sales increased from 802 in October of last year to 998 for the month this year.
The dramatic surge in closed sales in October follows a 46% increase of pending sales in September.
The market, the GBRAR says, appears to be “setting up for a second round of flood impact,” as pending sales for the month were up 42% from 769 in October 2015 to 1,092 in the same month this year.
“This spike is likely mostly the ‘flooded-gutted’ homes being purchased by investors,” the report notes.
New listings, meanwhile, are up as well, rising 17.1% from October 2015 to October 2016—with most of the increase coming from flood-impacted areas. However, overall inventory was down 20.8% to 3,028 homes in October 2016, compared to 4,186 in October 2015.
Closed sales, the GBRAR says, were up in Ascension, East Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes.
East Baton Rouge saw the greatest increase of closed sales, which skyrocketed 32% to 565 for the month compared to 428 in October 2015. New listings in the parish increased 17.2% to 634.
“Still, that wasn’t enough to bring inventory up,” the GBRAR says, adding that months supply of inventory—or the number of months it would take to sell all of the homes on the market at the current sales pace—was down 33.3% to 3.2 months from 4.8 months. The low figure indicates the parish is a “seller’s territory.”
The flood further squeezed inventory in Ascension Parish, where the number of homes for sale in October fell 12.4% to 408 from 466 in the same month last year. “Already low inventory clearly has taken a hit post flood,” the report notes.
Closed sales in Ascension were up 9.7%, likely due to flood-delayed closings making it to the table.
In Livingston Parish, closed sales were up 7.5% and new listings jumped by 37.6% in October.
