Regis Philbin
Jul 8th, 2006, 10:05 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/us/09orleans.html?ei=5065&en=886414ff61f8f0dc&ex=1153022400&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print
July 9, 2006
Investors Lead Home Sale Boom in New Orleans
By SUSAN SAULNY
NEW ORLEANS, July 8 — In a market spurred by speculators and bargain hunters, an extraordinarily large number of houses in the flood-ravaged metropolitan area here are being sold, according to real estate analysts, who say volume and sales prices exceed levels before Hurricane Katrina.
The higher prices are largely due to an increase in value in suburban areas, many of which were not heavily flooded, or in dry areas of New Orleans. But flooded houses in the city are being bought as well, often at deep discounts of as much as $50 a square foot less than they would have sold for before the hurricane.
"We have a stronger housing market than before," said Wade R. Ragas, professor emeritus of finance at the University of New Orleans and the president of a local consulting firm, Real Property Associates.
"There is renovation activity in every ZIP code of Orleans Parish," Dr. Ragas added, "but the strongest buying activity is, in general, closest to where it did not flood or where there was under two feet of water."
Across the nine-parish region that includes New Orleans, 7,506 single-family homes were sold between January and the end of last month, compared with 6,449 in the same period last year, according to statistics from the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors and the Gulf South Real Estate Information Network. The average price so far this year is $221,244, compared with $193,097 in the same period last year.
The interest in buying, selling and renovating has been a bright spot since the last months of 2005, and has confounded some people who thought the flooding would cripple the housing market for years. But it is just one of many counterintuitive contrasts that are defining the area and making easy predictions unreliable.
Before the storm, Jennifer and Rodney Greenup lived in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans, in a 1950's-era, 2,600-square-foot house with a red tile roof that they bought nine years ago for $108,000. It was appraised for nearly $240,000 before Hurricane Katrina.
and has confounded some people who thought the flooding would cripple the housing market for years.
Once again, the experts are "confounded"...what else is new??? :rolleyes:
July 9, 2006
Investors Lead Home Sale Boom in New Orleans
By SUSAN SAULNY
NEW ORLEANS, July 8 — In a market spurred by speculators and bargain hunters, an extraordinarily large number of houses in the flood-ravaged metropolitan area here are being sold, according to real estate analysts, who say volume and sales prices exceed levels before Hurricane Katrina.
The higher prices are largely due to an increase in value in suburban areas, many of which were not heavily flooded, or in dry areas of New Orleans. But flooded houses in the city are being bought as well, often at deep discounts of as much as $50 a square foot less than they would have sold for before the hurricane.
"We have a stronger housing market than before," said Wade R. Ragas, professor emeritus of finance at the University of New Orleans and the president of a local consulting firm, Real Property Associates.
"There is renovation activity in every ZIP code of Orleans Parish," Dr. Ragas added, "but the strongest buying activity is, in general, closest to where it did not flood or where there was under two feet of water."
Across the nine-parish region that includes New Orleans, 7,506 single-family homes were sold between January and the end of last month, compared with 6,449 in the same period last year, according to statistics from the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors and the Gulf South Real Estate Information Network. The average price so far this year is $221,244, compared with $193,097 in the same period last year.
The interest in buying, selling and renovating has been a bright spot since the last months of 2005, and has confounded some people who thought the flooding would cripple the housing market for years. But it is just one of many counterintuitive contrasts that are defining the area and making easy predictions unreliable.
Before the storm, Jennifer and Rodney Greenup lived in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans, in a 1950's-era, 2,600-square-foot house with a red tile roof that they bought nine years ago for $108,000. It was appraised for nearly $240,000 before Hurricane Katrina.
and has confounded some people who thought the flooding would cripple the housing market for years.
Once again, the experts are "confounded"...what else is new??? :rolleyes: