Louisiana Home Prices Hit New Highs in April

Louisiana home prices hit a new peak in April, according to new monthly figures released today by CoreLogic. Average single-family home prices in the state, including distressed sales, rose 1.4% between March and April, the report says, with the year-over-year increase at 3.7% through April. Excluding distressed sales—that is, properties under foreclosure or advertised for sale by a mortgagee—prices in Louisiana rose 0.9% on the month and are up 4% year-over-year. In both categories, Louisiana prices reached a new peak in April, the report says. All 50 states and the District of Columbia posted a year-over-year increase in average home prices during April, according to the report, and there are now 23 states at or within 10% of their peak average price. See the full report. 

While home prices across the U.S. rose by 10.5% in April, compared to the same month a year earlier, CoreLogic notes that was the slowest rate of appreciation in 14 months. As previously reported, average home sale prices in the eight-parish region tracked by the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors were up 0.4% year to date through April. Access the complete GBRAR report. —Steve Sanoski