For the past five years, selling a home in the Capital Region has proved a much easier task than buying one. But as Business Report details in a new feature, Baton Rouge real estate has been in a yearslong seller’s market streak—with historic inventory lows and record-breaking home sales—that was thrust into overdrive after the August 2016 flood.
More than 11,000 homes were sold in greater Baton Rouge in 2017 alone, a record high the area hasn’t seen since the Hurricane Katrina migration of 2005.
At the same time, the number of available homes for sale has dwindled. Since 2013, Baton Rouge has fallen below six-months supply of inventory, which reflects a seller’s market, real estate agents say. The greater Baton Rouge area hit a historic low of three-months supply in December 2016, before slowly rising to 3.7 months by the end of 2017.
But it’s important to note the past two years were anything but ordinary. The aftermath of a massive flood overwhelmed an already-heated housing market. Home sales soared as flood victims sold their damaged properties and bought new homes on higher ground—throwing the market out of whack for the past year-and-a-half.
Only recently has the Capital Region begun to shake the effects of the flood, with 2018 shaping up to be a return to normality. Real estate agents say activity began slowing by the end of 2017, signaling a cooling off period, with inventory this year expected to rise. What remains to be seen, though, is when the area will move out of a seller’s market? Though most indicators point to a better year for buyers, it appears sellers in the Capital Region will continue to have the upper hand.
“The National Association of Realtors is predicting the market to change more toward a buyer’s market this year, but our inventory is still so low I don’t think it will switch completely,” says Ginger Maulden, past president of the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors.
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