Post-Katrina Home Sales
Friday, December 2nd, 2005Three months after the storm, home sales are closing all over Orleans Parish, giving us our first real look at post-Katrina prices. I’ve been watching sales reported through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), and while the market is changing constantly, there are a couple things I’ve noticed about this preliminary data.
Many heavily-flooded properties are going for their pre-Katrina lot value, or in some cases below lot value, while homes that haven’t flooded are getting close to or right at pre-Katrina prices. Homes are selling from $100,000 to $1 million and everything in between.
Now what this information doesn’t show is the houses that are currently sitting on the market. Right now for the first time in a long time in this city, there are more sellers than buyers. With interest rates higher, the holidays on the horizon and many things still uncertain in the city, not all the buyers have entered the market again. However, my listings are seeing more buyer activity every day, and our office is getting busier and busier every day!
The key to selling homes in this market is to use every tool available to make your home stand out above the competition. I can help you do this by developing a strong marketing plan tailored to finding and playing up features that give your home its maximum value in the market. See my exclusive marketing plan for more information.
Some notes on the home sales in the chart below: The days on the market is the days from when the house was listed until it went under contract, not until it sold. So some homes went under contract right before the storm and then had a 2-3 month delay until they sold, whereas other homes went under contract after the storm and just had the normal 30-45 days until the sale.
Also, the list price is the latest list price before the home went under contract, so if there was an original, higher list price, that isn’t reflected. A little note on the first two flooded homes. The one on Fontainebleau sold in 2003 for $370,000. This week it sold for $100,000 all cash, but then again, it was only on the market 8 days. The one on Palmer was first listed just before the storm at $370,000. When it was relisted on 10/10/05 at $101,000 it went under contract in just three days and sold for well over the list price.
| Address | List Price | Sales Price | Sold Date | Flood Damage | Days on Market |
| 1934 Burgundy St. | $339,500 | $332,000 | 11/11 | No | 127 |
| 215 N Peters St. #E | $585,000 | $580,000 | 11/03 | No | 330 |
| 839 Dumaine St. | $1,075,000 | $1,045,000 | 11/10 | No | 28 |
| 926 Bourbon St. | $280,000 | $265,000 | 11/18 | No | 122 |
| 1750 St. Charles Ave. #203 | $474,000 | $474,000 | 11/15 | No | 30 |
| 5534 Fontainebleau Dr. | $150,000 | $100,000 | 11/14 | Yes | 8 |
| 2414 Palmer Ave. | $101,000 | $130,000 | 11/11 | Yes | 3 |
| 311 Calhoun St. | $289,000 | $315,000 | 11/10 | No | 64 |
| 7816 Oak St. | $249,000 | $249,000 | 11/16 | NK | 75 |
| 6736 Canal Blvd. | $225,000 | $220,000 | 11/17 | Yes | 3 |
| 517 Calhoun St. | $535,000 | $525,000 | 11/17 | No | 113 |
| 123 Walnut St. #903 | $665,000 | $665,000 | 11/12 | No | 1 |
| 504 Eleonore St. | $385,000 | $370,000 | 11/16 | No | 11 |
| 1104 Robert St. | $359,000 | $340,000 | 10/26 | No | 103 |
| 4714 Toulouse St. | $279,000 | $269,000 | 11/04 | NK | 41 |
| 760 Magazine St. #208 | $319,000 | $315,000 | 11/07 | No | 84 |
| 1615 Pine St. | $286,000 | $290,000 | 11/04 | NK | 33 |
| 3436 Laurel St. | $175,000 | $125,000 | 11/11 | No | 35 |
| 24 Tern St. | $650,000 | $500,000 | 11/08 | NK | 62 |
| 1015 Valence St. | $498,000 | $478,000 | 11/14 | NK | 174 |
| 837 Short St. | $650,000 | $650,000 | 11/10 | NK | 91 |
| 2712-14 Chippewa St. | $229,000 | $230,000 | 11/10 | No | 24 |
| 920 Poeyfarre St. | $172,900 | $161,900 | 11/04 | NK | 141 |
| 221 Laurel St. | $328,500 | $315,000 | 11/28 | No | 162 |
| 318 Eleonore St. | $322,000 | $320,000 | 10/28 | No | 161 |
| 940 Dufossat St. | $299,000 | $290,000 | 11/23 | No | 41 |
| 5917 Constance St. | $639,000 | $603,000 | 11/25 | No | 32 |
| 2845 Annunciation St. | $199,900 | $199,000 | 11/23 | No | 7 |
| 4852 Constance St. | $382,500 | $370,000 | 11/18 | No | 63 |