The average home sales price in the New Orleans metro area is holding steady – “a testament there is no bubble and homeowners are still seeing equity increases in their homes,” says Craig Mirambell, president/broker of Mirambell Realty, and incoming board president of the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors (NOMAR).

NOMAR published its July 2023 “Local Market Update,” which shows that the average sales price in July 2023 was $348,756, up 4.6% year-over-year from $333,518 in July 2022. The average sales price is only 3.7% year-to-date at $333,332 through the first seven months of 2023, compared to $346,188 in the first seven months of 2022.

“Sellers are not in any sort of desperation mode and are holding firm to their value they could had a year ago. Also, rental prices have not decreased at all, in fact have risen to exceptionally high prices,” Mirambell said. “With high rent prices, the appeal to buy a home is higher than ever, with the other option being paying top dollar for rent.”

NOMAR considers New Orleans metro as 10 parishes – Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John, St. James, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington.

The number of closed sales is down across the New Orleans metro area. In July 2023, there were 1,085 closed sales, down 19.3% YOY from the July 2022 number of 1,344. Closed sales YTD is also down 23.8% with 7,469 homes sold in the New Orleans metro area through the first seven months of 2023, compared to 9,804 in the same timeframe in 2022.

“The recent drop of 20% is simply the cycle our market does coming out of the summer,” Mirambell said. “Every year, the trend is at year end, we have the least sales, and during the summer we peak. So, we are either climbing or falling from there, but importantly, year over year, we typically increase.”

Higher priced homes, second homes, and investment properties are doing well, said Mirambell. “Higher priced homes and second homes are still selling aggressively quick and for top dollar,” he said. “These buyers are less sensitive to higher interest rates and incredibly ridiculous insurance prices. The same can be said for investment properties – with rents being so high right now, investment owners are making up for higher rates and insurance increases.”

Insurance crisis continues to be a challenge; crime also a concern

Mirambell said the most pressing challenge on the residential real estate market continues to be “the insurance crisis we are in for property insurance.”

“Most buyers have found some stability and peace of mind surrounding current interest rates, but insurance is our number one reason for cancellation of contracts,” he said. “When buyers are sticker shocked by insurance prices they are moving on to a property that might have more affordable insurances.”

Mirambell added that in addition to insurance, crime and politics have continued to rear their ugly heads, particularly for the surrounding Orleans Parish. “Plenty of real estate activity in Orleans is being tied to a lack of faith in crime being cleaned up by the current administration.”

Inventory down; days on market up

New listings are down, while days on the market have increased in New Orleans metro. There were 1,693 new listings in July 2023, down 8.6% YOY from 1,852 in July 2022. Through the first seven months of 2023, there have been 12,547 new listings in New Orleans Metro. That is down 7.4% from the same timeframe of 2022 when new listings totaled 13,553.

In July 2023, homes spent an average days on market of 45, up 66% YOY from 27 DOM in July 2022. Through the first seven months of 2023, homes have spent an average of 49 DOM. That is up 63.3% compared to the same timeframe in 2022 of 30 DOM.

Below are separate parish statistics with links to each parish’s NOMAR July 2023 report. You can find all the parish reports at https://gsrein-public.stats.showingtime.com/reports.