REALTORS Optimistic for 2010… Despite Last Year’s Slow Market

Courtesy of LA Realtors.org

By most accounts, 2009 was not a banner year for real estate

in Louisiana and across the nation. However, REALTORS are

optimistic that the state has absorbed the worst of the housing

market downturn and poised for improvement this year.

“The national economic downturn caught up with Louisiana to

some extent in 2009,” said Michael Indest, President of the

Louisiana REALTORS Association (LR). “But despite the down year,

we continue to see stable home values in Louisiana and believe that

we will see overall improvement in 2010.”

Statewide in 2009, the number of residential sales was down

2.3% from the previous year, and total residential sales volume

down 3.9%. The average home sales price in Louisiana was

$180,643, representing only a 1.6% decrease from 2008, and the

average days on market increased from 95 to 100 for the year.

The most positive news comes from northeast Louisiana,

where the Monroe market showed a 32.3% increase in home

sales over the previous year. The state’s largest metro areas of

Baton Rouge (number of sales down 1.8%) and New Orleans

(down 2.5%) reflected the overall state numbers, while Lafayette

(down 4.1%), Shreveport-Bossier (down 4.1%), Houma-

Thibodaux (down 10.3%), Central Louisiana (down 10.8%), Lake

Charles (down 13.3%) were below the state average for the year.

Louisiana continued to show overall stability in home values, with

the average sales price increasing in Shreveport-Bossier (up 5.5%),

Houma-Thibodaux (up 1.3%) and Lafayette (up 0.4%).