Pat Beall
Alexandra Clough
Jeff Ostrowski
Linda Rawls
Home > Real Estate > Archives > 2006 > August > 15 > Entry
Katrina boosts home prices
Who says hurricanes are bad for housing markets? Indeed, Hurricane Katrina did for Louisiana and the Mississippi coast what a historic bull market couldn’t — namely, a jump in prices.
Baton Rouge, La., boasts the nation’s hottest home prices, according to numbers out today from the National Association of Realtors. Appreciation in New Orleans, Biloxi and Gulfport was way above the national average, too.
The stats compare home prices in the second quarter of 2006 to those in the second quarter of 2005. In Baton Rouge, prices rose 27 percent, to $172,300.
Oddly, the folks at NAR don’t mention the obvious reason for the spike — an exodus of the middle class from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Maybe they want us to think the boom market has simply spread from Florida and California to once-sleepy Louisiana.
The New Orleans and Gulfport-Biloxi markets both saw 16.6 percent gains for the year, NAR says — well above the national average of 3.7 percent.
The spikes have little to do with mortgage rates, demographic trends or media coverage — to name three of the market movers oft cited by Realtors. Rather, this is a stark case of supply and demand.
In a shift reminiscent of Andrew’s effect on Dade and Broward homes in 1992, Katrina’s winds and flooding reduced the supply of homes, while displaced residents boosted demand for homes.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: Jeff Ostrowski
Comments
By Steve
August 18, 2006 10:36 PM | Link to this
Not surprising to me. You get rid of the slums and the neighborhoods can only improve.
By Bob
August 22, 2006 02:08 PM | Link to this
Look at the constant MEDIA BASHING of the real estate market in South Florida. It has been going on for 3 years. The attacks were started by the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Business Week to drive investors back into the stock market and the local media stooges jumped on the band wagon. The myth of the 90,000 condos being built in Miami is a total lie. You might have 6000 to 9000 condo starts in Miami-Dade a year. It would take 7-10 years to build 90,000 condo’s but the media won’t tell you the truth! They masquerade foreclosure consultants as impartial real estate experts then print lies to scare away buyers. It’s all tied to the affordable housing scam the media is pushing!!
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August 26, 2006 12:47 PM | Link to this
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August 26, 2006 12:47 PM | Link to this
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