Everyone can see that real estate seems pretty expensive these days, but actually looking at the numbers is quite a shocker: New Orleans home prices are 46 percent higher than they were just before Hurricane Katrina, says a study from the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors.
In highest demand are homes in the city's historic neighborhoods, which Wade Ragas, author of the report, says reflects a national trend of people wanting to return to "urban core neighborhoods." He says:
New Orleans is behaving more like it were a New York or a Chicago ... all of these bold, big center cities are experiencing the same phenomenon, and they're all showing these sorts of rates of growth. This market's not showing any signs of slowing, either — the report says that in the last six months alone, the average price per-square-foot increased 8.5 percent.
In Jefferson Parish, however, the average price of a house increased by only 1 percent in the post-Katrina decade. Metairie's looking a little cooler right now, isn't it?
· New Orleans home prices up 46 percent since Hurricane Katrina; suburbs more modest [NOLA.com]
· Why is This Marigny Camelback House Asking $1.1M? [Curbed NOLA]