Baton Rouge appears on Business Insider‘s list of one of the nation’s worst housing markets for the next five years, but the numbers may be misleading. The survey is largely based on sales growth since 2005—a year when the Capital Region housing market experienced record sales caused by the tens of thousands of people displaced by Hurricane Katrina. According to Business Insider, the Baton Rouge market depreciated in value by 14.5% since 2005. And according to data from Fiserv Case Shiller, the market is expected to grow by 1.4% annually through 2016, well below the national average of 3.7%. While the Business Insider list contains some housing markets universally known to be in bad shape, such as Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., it also includes some areas that were said to be holding up well in the wake of the housing bust, such as Austin, Texas, and Shreveport. Furthermore, the list doesn’t include any cities at the epicenter of the housing crisis, such as Las Vegas or several in California. See the full list here.
Today’s question: A recent study rates Baton Rouge as one of the country’s worst housing markets for the next five years. Do you think that prediction will prove true?
