Boom in Baton Rouge

One of the after effects of Hurricane Katrina is that it’s created a real estate boom in Baton Rouge. Local officials have estimated that the city’s population has doubled.

Demand for residential and commercial property is so strong that rental vacancy is an oxymoron and buyers are bidding against each other for places to live. As available housing dwindles, buyers waive inspections and pay cash for properties they may not have even seen.
“It’s crazy,” said Herb Gomez, executive vice president of the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors. “(Realtors) are busier now then they have been in their entire careers.”
Stephen Moret, chief executive of the Chamber of Greater Baton Rouge, said his members are running at full tilt. But it is an unexpected prosperity that he and other merchants are trying to keep in perspective.
“Everything that’s happening here is against the backdrop of the terrible devastation in New Orleans,” Moret said. “I wouldn’t even call it bittersweet. Awkward is more like it. We’re trying to accommodate the needs of evacuees.”
The real estate market is red hot, with both commercial and residential properties becoming increasingly scarce and valuable.
A normal, active month in Baton Rouge would be marked by about 900 existing home sales. In the past 13 days, even the most conservative estimates say inventory has dropped from 3,600 homes to less than 2,500.

Posted by on September 9th, 2005 at 10:45 am


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