The current state of the New Orleans-area residential real estate market isn’t a typical one, according to local realtors, but it can still be viable for sellers.

 

The most recent numbers from the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors show new listings in August were up nearly 8% from August 2021, while closed sales were down 8.1%. Homes spent an average of 30 days on the market, compared to 29 last August. The average sales price rose 3.7% to $324,125. The data includes Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John, St. James, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington parishes.

 

Craig Mirambell, NOMAR board secretary/treasurer and president/broker of Mirambell Realty, said the local market shows no signs of consistency, with some homes lasting 90 days and others in the same neighborhood selling quickly.

 

“It’s the strangest market I’ve ever seen in my 20 years of being a broker in real estate,” he said. “Typically, when the market turns south and goes bad, everything kind of turns bad; every house doesn’t sell and every house’s days on market rises.”

 

These days, it’s not necessarily a seller’s market. But a desirable home that’s updated, renovated and priced appropriately in a high-demand area is more likely to find a buyer, he said.

 

Kelli Walker Starrett, who was recently named the new CEO of NOMAR following the retirement of longtime leader Missy Whittington, agreed that the current market is “weird.”

 

“It’s not something we’ve usually seen when you have sort of the peak that we had, with as high as we were seeing sales prices for properties and multiple offers and multiple cash offers, and it was a very strange spot for us,” she said. “I think we naturally are hitting where things cool a little bit and they steady out.”

 

Nationwide, rising mortgage rates and declining home sales have signaled the end of a hot housing market. The New Orleans-Metairie area ranks No. 11 among markets that have cooled off the most, according to a new report from SmartAsset that looks at price reductions and decreased demand.

 

As of Tuesday, current rates in Louisiana stood at 6.95% for a 30-year fixed mortgage, and 6.24% for a 15-year fixed, according to Bankrate.

 

But the local market can still be friendly to sellers, Starrett said.

 

“There are still going to be people that want to buy a house,” she said. “There are going to be people that want to sell a house, and I encourage them to still do that. You don’t want somebody locked into something when they might need to make a change just because they feel like the market isn’t right for them. There’s always going to be a buyer out there.”

 

NOMAR numbers show that in Orleans Parish, there were 503 new listings in August, a 13% jump from 445 in August 2021. Closed sales were down 6.5%, and the average sales prices dropped 3.3% to $413,194. Days on the market dropped from 49 to 37.

 

There were 518 new listings in Jefferson Parish in August, up 5.3% from August 2021. Closed sales were up 2%, with the average sales price increasing to $300,142 – a 4.7% jump. Days on the market increased from 22 to 27.

 

St. Tammany Parish reported 431 new listings in August compared to 427 in August 2021. Closed sales were at 352, a 12.2% jump. The average sales prices also increased to $331,211, a 9.9% jump. Days on the market rose from 20 to 32.

 

To view all parishes in this month’s NOMAR “Local Market Update,” visit www.nomar.org.

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