Boosted by a 15.4% surge in sales during September, home sales in the eight-parish region tracked by the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors are up 9% through the first nine months of this year, compared to the same period last year.
GBRAR released the September sales report today. Along with the rise in closed sales, the report shows homes are sitting on the market for a much shorter time this year and average sales prices are up significantly. Inventory has also tightened considerably over the past year, with the number of homes on the market this September—3,713—down 11.2% from the 4,138 available for sale last September.
The average days on the market fell by 16 days, or 19%, to 67 days in September, while the average sales price rose 7.4% to $214,923.
GBRAR tracks home sales in East Baton Rouge, Ascension, Livingston, West Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, West Feliciana, Iberville and Pointe Coupee parishes. Last month, a total of 883 homes were sold across the region, up from 765 sales during the month last year. The region’s three largest parishes all saw sales increases on the month, led by East Baton Rouge Parish, which posted a 24.1% increase to 473 total sales. Home sales in Livingston Parish increased 18.3% to 181, while Ascension Parish saw sales rise 6.5% to 163.
Higher sales, lower inventory, fewer days on the market and rising sales prices all point to market that is increasingly favoring sellers, and the measure of months supply—or the number of months it would take to sell off the inventory at the current sales pace—suggests the same. Realtors typically view any reading below six months as reflective of a seller’s market. In September, the months supply figure was at 4.6, down from 5.5 in September last year.
Access the complete September housing report from GBRAR.
—Steve Sanoski
