Spotlight: Louisiana
six yeArs lAter, you still cAn’t tAlk ABout louisiAnA’s housing mArket outside
the context of hurricAne k AtrinA. the costliest nAturAl disAster in u.s. history
drove more thAn 300,000 fAmilies from their homes when it struck new orleAns
in lAte August 2005.
the city had 13 percent fewer housing units five years after the storm, driving a 33 percent increase in
housing costs, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported.
Home prices statewide peaked in
July 2007 and fell only 6. 5 percent
from then through 2010, according
to CoreLogic. Year-over-year existing-home prices were down 4. 8 percent this past april, compared to a
7. 5 percent drop nationally.
12-MONTH HOME-PRICE CHANGE
Meanwhile, foreclosures accounted
for less than one out of eight sales
statewide this past first quarter,
according to Realtytrac, well below the national average. Lender-owned properties sold for an
average 41 percent discount, the
biggest markdown in the South and
11th-largest nationally.
Source: CoreLogic Home Price Index Note: Includes single-family existing homes
Back in greater New Orleans, real estate data-provider Clear Capital reported one out of five existing-
home sales this past spring was lender-owned.
Mortgage Delinquencies
Louisiana has the seventh-highest concentration of subprime loans nationally, with 11.2 percent of the
state’s mortgages in that category, according to the Mortgage Bankers association. that subprime density led the state to the nation’s fifth-worst overall delinquency rate — 9. 11 percent — this past first
quarter. that’s down from 10.02 percent in the first quarter of 2010 but up from 8.84 percent in the first
quarter of 2009.
Foreclosures
Foreclosure activity more than doubled in Louisiana, a judicial foreclosure state, from the first quarter of
2009 through this past first quarter,
according to Realtytrac. Default notices increased from nine to 987 in
that time. More than 2,900 in-state
foreclosure auctions were scheduled this past first quarter, and foreclosure properties sold for a 35. 9
percent discount. Despite a proven
need for help, the state accounted
for only 0.6 percent of Home affordable Modification Program activity
through this past april, according to
the U.S. treasury Department.
LOUISIANA FORECLOSURES
Source: Realtytrac
Note: Nine defaults were recorded in the first quarter of 2009
Unemployment
Louisiana’s unemployment rate has remained below the national mark since the start of 2006. When
national out-of-work figures peaked at 10.1 percent in October 2009, Louisiana’s was three percentage
points less, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. the state employment picture, however, has
weakened ever since. as of this past april, Louisiana’s unemployment rate was only 0.9 percentage
points below the nation’s — 8.1 percent compared to 9 percent.
Darrick Meneken is an associate editor at Scotsman Guide. Reach him at (800) 297-6061 or darrickm@scotsmanguide.com.
3 Cities to Watch
NEW ORLEANS
More than 111,000 residents moved permanently from the state’s cultural and economic
heart following Hurricane Katrina. to add insult
to injury, some of the most-severe problems
caused by contaminated Chinese drywall have
occurred in homes rebuilt since 2005, according
to the associated Press and others.
BATON ROuGE
Louisiana State University anchors the state’s
second-largest city. With state higher-education
cutbacks of $350 million in the past two years
have come tough times. Unemployment in the
city reached 8. 7 percent earlier this year. Home
prices, however, have remained stable, helped
by a population influx in Katrina’s wake.
HOuMA
the most expensive home for sale in the state
as of this past June was located in this town
of around 35,000 people. the house, listed
for $6 million, sits on 94 acres. It dwarfed the
$112,800 median value of owner-occupied
housing units in terrebonne Parish, of which
Houma is the seat, as reported by the U.S.
Census Bureau.
WHAT THE LOCALS SAY
“Louisiana has been behind the rest of the nation in
terms of the recession. We were probably the last to
feel it. We’re probably going to be the last to feel the
recovery, too. One of the main reasons you’re seeing
higher unemployment right now is due to the loss
of state government and higher-education jobs.”
— KENNY HODGES, PRESIDENT
LOuISIANA MORTGAGE LENDERS ASSOCIATION
sources: associated Press, Chinese Drywall Complaint Center, Clear Capital,
Core Logic, foreclosurelaw.org, Louisiana State University, Mortgage Bankers
association, MSN, National association of Realtors, The (Monroe) News Star,
Realtytrac, Ultimate Homes, U. S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U. S. Department of Labor, U. S. Department of
the treasury
