Baton Rouge Real Estate News Video Resource: http://www.batonrougehousingreports.com/

Baton Rouge Real Estate News

Why Baton Rouge Housing Reports?

Because a home is the largest, most important investment most locals make in their lifetimes. Because of the importance of getting this decision right, housing market facts, trends and analysis are provided to help locals execute competent, informed home purchase or home selling decisions.

There’s a new Premier web video resource in Baton Rouge with a residential focus: Baton Rouge Housing Reports Dot Com. This site offers the good news in our market as well as the on-going correction, tips on what improvements really add value, local REALTOR® video update of the month, local real estate expert interviews, local remodeler’s tips, trends videos, monthly and quarterly reports, Top 150 Subivisions trends, current housing charts and stats, gbrmls stats, local NAR stats, special investigative series and a long list of local online resources. Visit Us for the scoop on local housing.

Baton Rouge Housing Reports Dot Com – Local Real Estate Professionals Providing Trends, Analysis & Tips Helping Locals Make Informed Housing Decisions!

Keywords: Baton Rouge Real Estate, Baton Rouge Homes, Baton Rouge Housing, East Baton Rouge, Greater Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge Realtors, Baton Rouge Real Estate Agents, Baton Rouge Homes For Sale, Baton Rouge Home Appraiser, Baton Rouge Home Appraisal

http://www.batonrougehousingreports.com/ - A Declining Baton Rouge Real Estate Market Looks Like This and Why It Would Cause Low Appraisals. YES, I understand this is long video of 10 minutes, but it will help explain what lenders and appraisers are looking for when they “both” analyze a market.

In this video, local Greater Baton Rouge Appraiser, Bill Cobb, shows what a classic declining market looks like by MLS Chart and Appraisal and how such a weak market could certainly lead to a low appraisal.

Remember that we’re speaking of a specific segment of the Baker housing market in the 1600sf to 2500sf living area range. This study isn’t of the entire Baker housing market, but some of the general comments in the video do apply to the whole market.

This weak Baker Louisiana market had these characteristics: Very Slow Sales. Declining Median Sales Price. 22 Month Supply. 21 Competing Listings Is Oversupply when only 15 sold in previous 12 months. 93% List-To-Sales Price Ratio is weak. 2011 Baker Hills 6 sales, Median $62K, Avg Sold:$52/sf, Avg SP/LP%:97%, Avg DOM:126 Days. 33% Competing REO Sold Rate Since 1/2009.

NOTE: Based on information from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of REALTORS®\MLS for the period of 01/01/2009 to 11/28/2011. This information was extracted on 11/28/2011.

http://www.baton-rouge-real-estate.com/ – Baton Rouge Housing Makes Homevestors Top 100 Markets To Invest In Rental Property List

Homevestors of America, Inc., the We Buy Ugly Homes national real estate investor franchise, recently graded the Top 100 United States Housing Markets for their potential to be in the best rental property markets. Baton Rouge was ranked #66. Read more abut the this news here!

About HomeVestors

Dallas-based HomeVestors of America, Inc., the #1 buyer of houses in the U.S., was incorporated and began franchising in 1996. The first real estate franchise investment company, HomeVestors trains and supports its independently owned and operated franchisees that specialize in buying older homes in need of repair, and updating or rehabbing them. Most commonly known as the “We Buy Ugly Houses” company, HomeVestors strives to make a positive impact in each community. In 2010, for the fifth consecutive year, HomeVestors was among the prestigious Franchise Business Review’s “Top 50 Franchises,” a distinction awarded to franchisors with the highest level of franchisee satisfaction. For more information visit www.HomeVestors.com . HomeVestors has franchise opportunities available in 97 of the 100 markets listed on the current ranking. To learn more about the HomeVestors franchise, visit www.HomeVestorsFranchise.com . NOTE: Source is Homevestors Website.

http://www.baton-rouge-real-estate.com/ – Baton Rouge LA Home Appraisers Housing Trends: The Lakes At Aubin Wood August 2011 Update. The location is very convenient to the center of Baton Rouge, a newer development from 2003 in an older housing market. According to the charting below, the Average Sales Prices fluctuated in the $230s from 2006 to 2009 and then broke above in the $240s in 2010. The last 2 MLS sales took place in 2010 with no 2011 sales or MLS Listings to report on.

Entrance

Entrance Sign

Home Styles

Development Lake

NOTE: Based on information from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of REALTORS®\MLS for the period of January 1, 2007 to August 18, 2011. This information was extracted on 8/18/2011. YES, permission was granted by GBRMLS to use Subdivision Price Trends Chart Report!

Bill Cobb is Greater Baton Rouge’s Home Appraiser frequently called upon by banks, homeowners, and savvy real estate investors to assess property values. A home appraiser with 20 years experience, Bill Cobb brings a wealth of knowledge to the table as a home appraiser.

Bill’s company, Accurate Valuations Group, serves Greater Baton Rouge (East Baton Rouge Parish, West Baton Rouge Parish, Western Livingston Parish and Northern Ascension Parish).

Contact Bill Cobb and Accurate Valuations Home Appraisal Group for your next home appraisal:
Office: 225-293-1500, Cell: 225-953-0638
Fax: 1-866-663-6065
info@accuratevg.com
http://www.accuratevg.com/

http://www.baton-rouge-real-estate.com/ – A Baton Rouge Home Appraisal In Kenilworth Subdivision 70808 in August 2011

I recently completed a home appraisal in Kenilworth Subdivision 70808 for a refinance and discovered some housing trends on the chart below. No, none of the photos used in this article are of the home appraised.

The Median Sales Price in 2011, at $212,000, is about even with 2008′s $212,500. The Average Sold Price Per Square Foot in 2011, at $102/sf, is about even with 2007′s $102.46/sf. It seems from viewing the chart below that Kenilworth home prices have maintained stability in a correcting Baton Rouge housing market, per CoreLogic and 24/7 Wall Street recent studies. This is good news for Kenilworth Subdivision homeowners!

NOTE: Based on information from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of REALTORS®\MLS for the period of January 1, 2005 to August 15, 2011. This information was extracted on 08/15/2011. YES, this appraiser does have the permission of GBRMLS to use the chart above Subdivision Price Trends Report!

Kenilworth Subdivision Update from Bill Cobb, Appraiser with Accurate Valuations Group!

http://www.appraisersinbatonrouge.com/ – Baton Rouge Real Estate: How Is Villa Del Rey Subdivision Performing Into 2011, Increasing, Declining or Remaining Steady?

Potential $20K Loss. This is an on-going series into the decline of Greater Baton Rouge Home Values and why potential buyers should beware and not pay too much for “some” local overpriced listings. YES, there are overpriced listings in the Greater Baton Rouge Housing Market! Bill strongly recommends in this housing environment to obtain a Pre-Purchase Appraisal to gain ALL of the facts before making a local home purchase decision. In the appraisal I recently completed, the home sold for $155,900 in 2007, a Post Hurricane Katrina high price, and is now on the market for $136,000. If this home sells for $136,000, then homeowner only loses $20,000 and will lose a total of $28,160 after paying the selling commission.

A recent home appraisal in and analysis of Villa Del Rey revealed this interesting finding. From 2009 to 2010 to 2011, the median sales price has declined from $145,000 to $137,500 to now $136,000 (chart below is not updated) into 2011 based only on 3 sales. This drop is due to foreclosure and/or distressed sales. Actually, the chart below is incorrect because GBRMLS reports “38″ solds in 2010, not just 33, with a median of $137,500. Of those 38 sales, 11 or 29% were foreclosures, which is quite high. And, in 2011, the 3 solds only sold for $119,000, $136,000 and $139,000 indicating these sold below market.

THE CORRECTION IN HOME PRICES – This is becoming the familiar “Stair Step Up and Down”…..The Climb And Then Descent Of The Stairs In This Chart Below Visually Explains The Correction!

NOTE: Based on information from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of REALTORS®\MLS for the period of January 1, 2005 to May 3, 2011. This information was extracted on 5/3/2011. YES, permission was granted by GBRMLS to use Subdivision Price Trends Chart Report!

AUTHOR’S BIO:

Bill Cobb is Greater Baton Rouge’s Home Appraiser frequently called upon by banks, homeowners, and savvy real estate investors to assess property values. A home appraiser with 20 years experience, Bill Cobb brings a wealth of knowledge to the table as a home appraiser.

Bill’s company, Accurate Valuations Group, serves Greater Baton Rouge (East Baton Rouge Parish, West Baton Rouge Parish, Western Livingston Parish and Northern Ascension Parish).

Contact Bill Cobb and Accurate Valuations Home Appraisal Group for your next home appraisal:
Office: 225-293-1500, Cell: 225-953-0638
Fax: 1-866-663-6065
info@accuratevg.com
http://www.accuratevg.com/

http://www.batonrougerealestateappraisers.net/ – East Baton Rouge Parish Quarterly Sales By Zip Code Q1 2010 versus Q1 2011 Report. Report shows an increase in number of home sales over 2010, but significant declines in Average Sales Prices overall. Report includes ALL housing types in East Baton Rouge Parish.

Accurate Valuations Group (Home Appraisals) has completed an analysis of the East Baton Rouge Parish housing market from First Quarter 2010 versus First Quarter 2011. The results are below. Click the chart to view in a larger size.

This is a lot of data to report on in one (1) article with “20″ zip codes. A short summary follows:

Number of Home Sales Increased Over 2010! For the number of home sales, only 9 zip codes reported a smaller number of sales. And, Ten (10) Zip Codes experienced more sales in Q1 2011 than in Q1 2010, which is great news for our market.

Average Sales Prices Overall Decline! This is consistent with the CoreLogic report on national home prices falling for the 7th straight month, as reported on Thursday, April 7, 2011. Thirteen (13) of the 20 Zip Codes showed declining average sales prices versus only Seven (7) showing increases. Local home prices are continuing to correct.

Average Sales Price Per Square Foot Overall Declines! This is consistent with the CoreLogic report. Fifteen (15) of the 20 Zip Codes showed declining average sales prices per sq. ft. versus only Seven (5) showing either no change or just slight increases.

Biggest Gainers. Zip Code 70807, the Scotlandville market, showed a 450% increase in number of home sales. Zip Code 70739, the Central or Greenwell Springs market, showed a +16.2% increase in Average Sales Prices AND +5.6% in Average Sales Price Per Sq. Ft.. Central is a “hot” market viewed by locals as having a favorable school district.

Largest Declines. Zip Code 70820, the market below LSU off Brightside, showed a -35.3% decrease in number of home sales. Zip Code 70802, the market in and around Central Business District, showed a -33.4% decline in Average Sales Prices AND -30.2% decline in Average Sales Price Per Sq. Ft..

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Author’s Bio:
Bill Cobb is Greater Baton Rouge’s Home Appraiser frequently called upon by banks, homeowners, and savvy real estate investors to assess property values. A home appraiser with 20 years experience, Bill Cobb brings a wealth of knowledge to the table as a home appraiser.

Bill’s company, Accurate Valuations Group, serves Greater Baton Rouge (East Baton Rouge Parish, West Baton Rouge Parish, Western Livingston Parish and Northern Ascension Parish).

Contact Bill Cobb and Accurate Valuations Home Appraisal Group for your next home appraisal:
Office: 225-293-1500, Cell: 225-953-0638
Fax: 1-866-663-6065
info@accuratevg.com
http://www.accuratevg.com/

http://www.homeappraisalsbatonrouge.com/ – Baton Rouge Home Appraisal Blog: Azalea Lakes Subdivision 2009-2010 Update. Both the Average and Median Sales Prices were DOWN by -2% and 3.4%in 2010, but the Average Sold Price Per Sq. Ft. was up by +$2.34/sf or 2%.

Solds In Azalea Lakes from 1/2010 to 12/31/2010 revealed:
Average Sales Price: $193,080 ($197,147 in 2009)
Average Sold Price Per Sq. Ft.: $117.61/sf ($115/sf in 2009)
Median Sold Price: $187,900 ($194,500 in 2009)
Number of Sales: 15 (14 shown on chart below)
Average Number of Days On Market: 82
Low To High: $165,000 to $255,000
Number of Sold REO/Foreclosures Noted In MLS: 1
Current # Listings: 5, 0 Are Foreclosures
Current Listings Prices: $179,900 To $379,900

NOTE: Based on information from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of REALTORS®\MLS for the period of January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2010. This information was extracted on 2/17/2011. YES, this appraiser does have the permission of GBRMLS to use the chart above Subdivision Price Trends Report!

http://www.batonrougerealestateminute.com/ – Baton Rouge Real Estate: Are dead grass lawns common in subdivisions where you are?

Yesterday, I created this video below of a local subdivision named “Comite Hills West” and posted it to my Baton Rouge Real Estate Minute Video blog.

This morning, I woke up to an email question from an appraiser colleague in the Northwest (Washington State), an appraiser I respect and have joked with over the past 3 years (so my reply is slightly in a joking manner as well). He asked,

“Bill……….Are dead grass lawns common in subdivisions where you are, in that subdivision? In your video, the homes look nice and presentable, but the lack of attractive front landscaping is interesting. What’s the ‘back story’ of this area?? It appears that no property has underground sprinklers with automatic timers. And if watered manually, most folks don’t. Is the cost of water really expensive??“

I honestly didn’t know exactly how to reply. Around here, most locals let Winter be Winter. And, in these two photos below, the vegetation doesn’t look totally dead (photos taken in January 2011).

This was my response below:

“I’m really not sure how to answer your question. Around here, we call it Winter. Winter here started early for us, unseasonably cold and lots of rain, I mean lot of it. It’s rained here for the past 2 days and now it’s 26 this morning (wind chill 20), which is really cold in Louisiana. So, there’s no reason to water lawns around here in the winter. Last frost is generally right around Easter and then we’re off to warmer weather and beautiful lawns. Actually, it was T-Shirt weather last Saturday.

Do you live in a golf community up there where all what you’re describing is common? Or, do they plant rye grass up there to make lawns remain green? I guess Washington State is more used to the Winter death of vegetation, but except for the pine trees here, most of our vegetation dies and looks like what you see. And, if we don’t weed-and-feed our lawns and flower beds, the weeds take over. I did weed-and-feed last September.

Now I’m curious! With the exception of California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida, where in the U.S. during Winter do lawns and flower beds look beautiful? Isn’t Winter for the purpose of dying off vegetation, kind of like pruning a tree, so that in the Spring they comes back beautiful?

So, the answer is Yes. Around here it’s pretty dreary looking in terms of lawns, from November through mid March. In fact, in February, I’m supposed to put out “Amaze“, a granular fertilizer that helps our lawn and beds come back weed free and earlier.

Comite Hills West is an upper middle class subdivision in the $200K to $350K range, around 34 years old with some newer 11-15 yr old homes as well. The amazing thing about Comite Hills West was that it saw “11″ home sales in 2010. Of these 11 sales, 1 was REO, 2 were relocation sales and 1 was a short sale. These “4″ sales helped the sold price per sq. ft. dive from $81.24/sf in 2009 down to $76.15/sf in 2010.

The local market has slowed considerably since the Federal Tax Credit Expiration. However, the wealthy here locally HAVE NOT generally been affected and they continue to buy homes on lots in the Garden District for $312K, tear them down and build McMansions with cash. It’s the middle class that’s feeling this downturn the worse.

And, in the Garden District, maybe 1713 Ingleside Dr, 1574 Longwood Dr, and 1279 Longwood Dr are the types of lawns you’d rather see, not so dead in Winter (photos taken in January 2011). But then again, on the same streets are 1165, 1166 and 1914 Ingleside Dr that look dead. I guess around here, most folks just let Winter be Winter. Not really sure.

Thank you for asking.

Bill”

http://www.batonrougerealestateappraisal.com/ – Baton Rouge Homes: Millbrook Subdivision 2010 Home Sales Price Trends

Solds In Millbrook Subdivision from 1/2010 to 12/31/2010 revealed:

Average Sales Price: $229,300 ($254,000 in 2009)
Average Sold Price Per Sq. Ft.: $125.23/sf ($120.97/sf in 2009)
Median Sold Price: $235,000 ($254,000 in 2009)
Number of Sales: 3 (2 in 2009)
Average Number of Days On Market: 109 (100 in 2009)
Low To High: $215,000 to $238,000
Number of Sold REO/Foreclosures Noted In MLS: 0
Current # Listings: 1, 0 Are Foreclosures
Current Listings Price: $226,000 or $128/sf (Notice this listing is generally priced $7/sf above 2010 support in Millbrook)

For the numbers above, one must keep in mind the sizes of the homes sold. In 2009, there were 2 homes sold averaging 2,103sf living area size. The 3 2010 solds averaged 1,831sf, 272sf smaller than the 2009 solds. Thus, it would make sense for the 2009 median sales price to be higher.

NOTE: Based on information from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of REALTORS®\MLS for the period of January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010. This information was extracted on 1/1/2011. YES, this appraiser does have the permission of GBRMLS to use the chart above Subdivision Price Trends Report!

Tags: Baton Rouge Estate Appraisers, Baton Rouge FHA Appraisers, Baton Rouge Housing Market, Baton Rouge Real Estate, Baton Rouge Real Estate Housing, Baton Rouge Real Estate Trends,