Ascension Parish, LA: Tax Credit Expiration Effects

By Don Stern

Real Estate Agent with Realty Executives South Louisiana

July 01, 2010 10:44 AM

Ascension Parish Real Estate Market Report - Effects of Tax Credit Expiration

The data used in this report were extracted from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors MLS database. The data are presumed accurate but are not warranted. The data collected were for detached single family homes in Ascension parish which went under contract between January 1, 2010 and June 30, 2010.

In order to qualify for the $8,000 or $6,500 homebuyer tax credit, a homebuyer had to have an accepted contract in place on or before April 30, 2010. I wanted to quantify the impact of the expiration of that tax credit upon the real estate market in Ascension Parish. The expiration of the tax credit has, indeed, had a cooling effect on the market. Overall, there has been a drop of 36% in the average weekly number of accepted contracts since the expiration of the tax credit. The following chart illustrates that effect.

Ascension Parish Home Sales - Effects of Tax Credit Expiration

I separately calculated the effect for new construction and for re-sale homes. It appears that new construction benefited most from the tax credit. Since its expiration, the average number of new contracts per week dropped from 14.7/wk to 7.0 per week, a drop of 52%. For homes in the re-sale market segment, that drop was from 16.4/week to 13.0/wk or 21%.

The next chart plots the same data but shows the mix of new construction contracts vs. re-sale contracts as a percent of the total for a given week.