The number of homes for sale in the greater Baton Rouge continued to shrink in March, during which sales in the nine-parish region rose 7.7% compared to closed deals during March last year, according to the monthly report released by the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors today.
A total of 855 homes were sold last month, up from 794 sales in March 2015. Inventory, meanwhile, fell by 14.9% to 3,272 in March. There were about 600 more homes on the market during March last year. As stated at the Trends in Real Estate summit held last week, demand in the market is outpacing supply.
“As seller and builder confidence increases, we should see more activity” in the second quarter, GBRAR says in the March report. “The second quarter tends to rank as the best time to list a home for sale. But if inventory stays low, it will be difficult to sustain sales increases in year-over-year comparisons.”
With the first quarter now in the books, year-to-date sales this year are up 8.2% over the first three months of last year. 2,862 sales have been recorded through March this year, up from 2,443 last year.
In March, sales were up considerably in East Baton Rouge (10.6% to 449 total sales) and Livingston (14.1% to 170) parishes, and also rose by 3.9% to 160 in Ascension Parish. Inventory fell by 15% in East Baton Rouge, 24.9% in Livingston and 21% in Ascension. GBRAR also tracks home sales in West Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, West Feliciana, Iberville and Pointe Coupee parishes.
Aside from the rising sales, higher average sales prices and fewer days on the market point to a continued seller’s market in the Capital Region. The average sales price in the nine-parish region rose 4.1% in March to $218,349. The average number of days a home was on the market fell by 15.2% to 78 days.
The months supply of inventory—or the number of months it will take to sell all homes on the market at the current sales—decreased 22.4% in March to 3.8 months.
“Demand is present but an abundance of choice is not,” reads the report, “and therein lies the rub.”
—Alexandria Burris
