Neighborhoods that don't normally see spikes in home sales are basking in a new kind of glory. The metro area is rocking it in the real estate arena – prices are on the rise and there are more buyers than previous years. Sure, Uptown is ultra-desirable but underdog areas like Central City are seeing "sharp rises" in home prices, too. Investors have already sunk their claws into the coming-soon BioDistrict neighborhood, the 1500 acres between the CBD and Mid-City. The BioDistrict area (future site of the VA Hospital, University Medical Center, and Louisiana Cancer Research Center) has some serious house flipping going on. WWL says several houses purchased for less than $100K a couple years ago are now on the market in the mid-$400K range. Not all of the city is seeing booming sales, though. All of those Hurricane Katrina-damaged homes that still haven't been touched? Average sale prices for an unrenovated, storm-ravaged home dropped about $20K in the past year, but hey, that's good news for those searching for a serious fix-it-upper.
· N.O. area housing prices steadily rising [The Advocate]
· Real estate frenzy near soon-to-be biomedical district [WWL]
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