La. home prices continue to rise in May, remain at post-recession peak

After reaching a new peak in April, Louisiana home prices were on the rise again in May. According to the latest monthly figures from CoreLogic released today, Louisiana single-family home prices, including distressed sales, rose 1.1% from April to May. And compared to the same month last year, home prices including distressed sales were up 3.3% in May, the report says. Excluding distressed sales—that is, properties under foreclosure or advertised for sale by a mortgagee—home prices in Louisiana were up 0.9% from April to May, but compared to May 2013 those prices are up 4.4%. Including distressed sales, Louisiana last reached the current peak in May 2006. Excluding distressed sales, the last time prices were this high in Louisiana was April 2006. For the nation at large, home prices have now risen for 27 straight months, according to CoreLogic’s Home Price Index report. But despite an 8.1% increase in U.S. home prices, excluding distressed sales, the national average price remains 13.5% below the pre-recession peak recorded in April 2006. Louisiana is now among 25 states that are at or within 10% of their peak average price. See the complete CoreLogic May report. The Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors, which tracks housing data in the eight-parish Capital Region, reported earlier this month that the average sales price in the region was up 2.7% in May, compared to the same month last year, to $203,393. Access the complete May report from GBRAR. —Steve Sanoski