In its June issue, Money Magazine predicted that New Orleans would outshine all but five other major metro area in the price gains homeowners could expect to record over the coming year.
The magazine's Top 10 list seemed, in other words, to reflect the dramatic declines in places like California, Florida and Nevada more than any sudden run-up in home prices. New Orleans made the cut with a gain of only 1 percent in 2007 and a predicted gain of 2.2 percent in the year ahead.
Foreclosure rates in Louisianan are among the lowest of any state, partly because lenders showed patience with storm victims whose mortgage payments were delinquent, partly because insurance proceeds kept others from falling behind. Home prices have also remained stable.
The Money article gauged the buoyancy of home prices, not volume of home sales, and it therefore says little about how easy or difficult it will be to sell a home in New Orleans in the next few months. Rea Estate agents still have a large inventory of homes on their hands, though the number of owners looking to unload property has started to drop, especially in the New Orleans Metro area.
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