Strong sales in East Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes helped push home sales in the eight-parish Capital Region up 4.8% in February, compared to sales during the same month last year. A total of 636 homes were sold across the region last month, which is 29 more than were sold than in February 2014, according to the latest monthly sales report from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors, released today.
East Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes led sales growth for the second straight month. The 334 homes sold in East Baton Rouge Parish last month represents a 7.1% increase over the 312 homes sold in February 2014. In January, East Baton Rouge posted a 3.4% sales increase. Livingston Parish, meanwhile, recorded 118 sales last month, or 15.7% more than the 102 sales during the month last year. Livingston sales were up 7.1% in January.
The increases in East Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes more than offset a 1.6% decline in sales in Ascension Parish last month. Just two fewer homes were sold in Ascension during February this year, 120, compared to 122 last year. The slight dip marks a relative rebound for Ascension, where sales were off 16% in January.
GBRAR’s Capital Region sales report also includes data from West Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, West Feliciana, Iberville and Pointe Coupee parishes. Those parishes posted a collective 64 sales last month, down nearly 10% compared to the 71 sales recorded in February 2014.
The average sales price in the eight-parish region last month was $210,088, which is 8.2% higher than the average of $194,177 recorded during the month last year. Meanwhile, the inventory and months supply figures were also positive last month. The 3,610 homes on the market last month were 13.6% fewer than the 4,179 for sale in February 2014. And the months supply figure—a measure of how long it would take to sell all of the homes on the market at the current sales pace—dipped to 4.6 months, down from 5.9 months in February last year. Realtors typically regard any reading under six months to be reflective of a seller’s market.
Year to date, home sales in the Capital Region stand at 1,161, a 2.7% increase over sales during the first two months of last year. Access the complete February sales report from GBRAR.
—Steve Sanoski
