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Lets talk doubles in New Orleans!
Real Fast:
479 doubles are for sale in New Orleans
30 closed in the last 30 days.
In August that number was 46.
I pulled 30 days of closed double sales from the MLS, plus every active and pending listing as of today.
Quick reference for MOI: months of inventory.
Months of inventory is the number of homes for sale divided by the number that sold in the last month, which tells you how long it would take to sell them all if nothing new came on the market.
Under 6 is a seller’s market.
Over 7 is a buyer’s market.
DOM: days on market until an accepted offer.
Inventory held flat. Closings fell by a third in one month. MOI jumped from 10.3 to 16.0.
The median close fell to $297,000. Most of that drop is the mix of houses not the same houses getting cheaper. 10 of the 30 closings were under $200K. 6 of those 10 were rated poor or fair condition.
Sellers are giving ground: The median double closed at 94% of list price. 93 of the 479 active listings have been on the market 180 days or longer. That is 1 in 5.
So What’s Pending Now?
80 doubles are under contract right now. Most of these will close in the coming weeks, so October’s closed number should come in higher than 30.
Under $200K is the only tier with enough closings for us to label a MOI trend; 9.9 months. These are mostly flip/renovation houses. The median closed at $59 per square foot.
Under $300K holds 47% of the inventory and 59% of the pending deals. That is where the buyers are.
$400K to $500K is the dead zone. It has 76 active, 5 pending and 1 closing. That band holds 16% of the inventory and 6% of the pending deals.
$500K+ still has buyers. 15 are pending, and closings ran from $510,000 to $1,425,000. The renovated, owner-occupant style double sells.
Tremé leads with 5 closings at a 12-day median DOM. Its doubles closed above its own median list price. It was the busiest ‘double neighborhood’ in the city this month.
The 7th Ward has the most doubles listed at 38, plus 7 pending. The active median DOM there is 97 days. There is plenty of supply and some movement, but not enough to clear it.
Bayou St. John has 6 active and 4 pending. It closed nothing this month, but buyers are writing offers there. I’d expect the closing number to jump a bit. With it being a smaller neighborhood the data can be skewed.
Lakeview closed 3 at a $510,000 median with a 15-day median DOM. It is the highest closed median on the list.
So...
The citywide number says buyer’s market, and... it is. But it is not one market. Cheap fixers and doubles in the right neighborhoods still trade quickly. The mid-price, mid-condition double sits.
In the $400K to $500K range, comps are thin and the negotiating room is real. Under $300K in Tremé or Bayou St. John, assume someone else is looking at the same house.
If you own a double in that $400K to $500K band, are you holding for the rent or waiting on a buyer who has not shown up yet?
🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠
Philip Ewbank,
Realtor Keller Williams Realty New Orleans
8601 Leake Ave, New Orleans, LA 70118
C: 504.335.7481 | O: 504.862.0100
Each office independently owned & operated. Licensed in the state of Louisiana. License #0995700196