For the past few years, the annual Trends Seminar was a chance for local Realtors to hear about all the new construction projects going on around Baton Rouge. Today’s series of presentations was more about reassurance and trying to find bright spots in a market that has slowed down due to the national recession. “Stability is the new growth,” says Adam Knapp, president and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber.
Metro area home sales dropped nearly 24% for the 12-month period ending in February, when compared to the year before. That put the number of sales below what they were pre-Hurricane Katrina. But Tom Cook, owner of Cook, Moore & Associates, says sale prices were up by 2%, to an average of $201,700, and the number of days homes were staying on the market fell by more than 34%, to 95 days. “It’s the rate of sales that has slowed down,” Cook says. Difficulties in getting financing will cause residential development to dramatically slow down in 2009. “New subdivisions are non-existent,” Cook says. “It’s like someone turned off a spigot.”
One area that has remained strong has been the apartment market. Rents at 122 local complexes rose 3.6% from fall 2007 to fall 2008, while vacancy rates fell to 2.1%, says Wesley Moore of Cook, Moore & Associates. Moore says residents, especially those who live in the upscale complexes that have been built in the past few years, are staying in rental units instead of buying a house. For a longer version of this story, click here.—Timothy Boone
