Dear Readers, the data on the 2023 New Orleans housing market has been released, and I have compiled much of it for you in the blog post below. Safe to say, 2023 was a challenging year in our market. High interest rates combined with elevated insurance costs (both homeowners and flood) led to a decline in sales volume and property values. However, it appears the Fed is now done hiking rates and may begin rate cuts in the spring. And mortgage rates have moderated from the near 8% highs we saw recently to 6.69% as I write this. From conversations I have had with insurance brokers, I can tell you anecdotally that we have seen a modest increase in the number of insurance companies writing policies in our market, but we have yet to see a significant improvement in insurance pricing. If you’re yet not familiar with it, I’d encourage you to look at the State’s fortified roof grant program, as that is one route to lowering insurance costs that seems to have had some success in south Alabama. There has also been some discussion about a special session of the legislature aimed at addressing our insurance woes, but I don’t believe one has been scheduled yet.
I would like to leave you with some good news to ponder for the year ahead before you dig into the somewhat dispiriting numbers below. And that is related to our country’s broader overall economic climate and how that’s impacting the Fed’s decisions on interest rates. To put it simply, we appear to have achieved a soft landing. Since March of 2022, the Fed has hiked rates faster and higher than at any time in the past forty years. And while many predicted that we would slide into a job loss recession and there would be economic calamities from the shock of the pace and extent of rate hikes, that has not happened (there were some regional bank failures but they were contained). As it stands now, the three and six month annualized core inflation rates in December were at 1.5% and 1.9% respectively, both below the Fed’s 2% target. Meanwhile, consumer spending remains strong, real wages have exceed the rate of inflation for the last several months, the unemployment rate in December was 3.7%, and our economy is 7% larger than it was before the pandemic. Set against our economic competitors in Europe and Asia, we appear to have the economic wind at our backs. Of course there may be unknowns ahead that could derail us, but for now it appears we are poised for good economic times ahead and, one hopes, a gradual improvement in the real estate sector as interest rates moderate.
ORLEANS PARISH
The 2023 median sales price for single-family homes in Orleans Parish was $335,000 versus a 2022 median sales price for Orleans Parish of $360,000, which represents a 6.9% decrease in the median sales price year over year.
The average sold price per square foot for single-family homes in Orleans Parish was $217 in 2023 versus $228 for 2022, a 4.8% year-over-year reduction in the sold price per square foot.
FRENCH QUARTER CONDOS
The median sales price of a French Quarter condo in 2023 was $359,000, which is a 0.9% increase year-over-year from 2022 when the median sales price was $355,675.
The average sold price per square foot for French Quarter condos was $505 in 2023 versus $509 in 2022, a 0.8% decrease year-over-year.
There was a ten months supply of condos in the French Quarter in 2023, a 51.5% increase over 2022, when there was a 6.6 months supply of condos in the French Quarter. Condo inventory in the French Quarter reached a several years low of 6.1 months from April to June of 2022 (inventory had not been that low since June of 2015).
French Quarter condos were on the market for an average of eighty-four days in 2023, an 18.4% decrease from 2022, when condos were on the market for an average of one hundred and three days.
French Quarter condos sold for an average of 96.1% of their list price in 2023, a 0.4% increase from 2022, when condos in the Quarter sold for an average of 95.7% of their list price.
There were eighty-four condo sales in the French Quarter in 2023, a 16.8% reduction from 2022, when there were one hundred and one condo sales. The one hundred and one French Quarter condos sold in 2022 likewise represents a 19.8% reduction in sales relative to 2021 when one hundred twenty-six condos were sold.
Now let’s take a look at the CDB-Warehouse condo market.
CBD and Warehouse Condos
The median sales price for CBD-Warehouse condos in 2023 was $354,801, a 12.4% decrease from 2022 when the median sales price was $402,250.
The average sold price per square foot for CBD-Warehouse condos in 2023 was $452 versus $451 in 2022.
There was 8.2 months of condo supply in the CBD-Warehouse in 2023, a 67.3% increase in supply over 2022 when there was 4.9 months of supply for the year.
CBD-Warehouse condos were on the market for an average of fifty-three days in 2023, a 40.4% decrease from 2022 when condos in the CBD-Warehouse were on the market for an average of eighty-nine days.
Condos in the CBD-Warehouse sold for an average of 97.3% of their last list price in 2023, an uptick of 0.6% from 2022 when condos sold for 96.7% of their last list price.
One hundred forty-eight condos were sold in the CBD-Warehouse in 2023, a 2.8% increase over 2022 when one hundred forty-four condos were sold. 2022’s number of sold condos represented an 11.7% reduction from 2021 when one hundred sixty-three condos were sold.
UPTOWN SINGLE FAMILY
Full year numbers for 2023 give us a median sales price in the 70115 and 70118 zip codes comprising much of Uptown New Orleans of $609,000 versus a median sales price of $625,000 for full year 2022, a 2.6% decrease in the median sales price. This full year 2023 median sales price of $609,000 is an 18.3% increase from full year 2020 numbers when the median sales price was $515,000.
MARIGNY-BYWATER SINGLE-FAMILY
The median sales price of a single-family home in Marigny-Bywater was $557,000 in 2023, a 3.6% increase from 2022 when the median sales price was $537,853.
The average sold price per square foot for single-family homes in the Marigny-Bywater was $336 in 2023, which is unchanged from 2022.
There was a five month supply of single family homes in the Marigny-Bywater in 2023, a 38.9% increase from 2022 when there was a 3.6 month supply of single-family homes.
Homes were on the market in Marigny-Bywater for an average of fifty-three days in 2023, a 26.2% increase from 2022 when homes were on the market for an average of forty-two days.
Homes in Marigny-Bywater sold for an average of 96% of their last list price in 2023 versus 97.2% of their last list price in 2022.
In all of 2023, fifty-four homes sold in Marigny-Bywater versus seventy homes in 2022, a 22.9% reduction. This 2022 reduction was on top of a 25.5% reduction in sales from 2021 to 2022, when ninety-four homes sold in Marigny-Bywater.
I hope you have found this information helpful. If you have any questions, or would like information on any areas I didn’t address, please contact me by email, or by phone at 504-407-9012. And please keep me in mind if you or anyone you know needs assistance with real estate in metro New Orleans.
