Tri-Parish Real Estate Market Report

The geography covered by the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors has been segmented into numbered areas. These areas are depicted on the following map.

An analysis of detached single family sales during 2010 was done in the tri-parish region (Ascension, East Baton Rouge, and Livingston) and broken down by MLS area. The next chart provides the results of that analysis.

The chart illustrates that the highest dollar volumes were achieved in northern Ascension parish and in southern East Baton Rouge parish. Unit sales followed similar patterns except that the Livingston parish areas of 81 and 83 exhibited relatively high unit sales. Another statistic is worth noting… homes in area 61 had the highest median sales price of any of the MLS areas.

A similar analysis was done but included only new construction. That chart is below.

We can see that area 90 in Ascension parish far exceeded any other area in terms of both unit and dollar volume. Area 83 in Livingston parish came in second.

As always, I appreciate hearing from readers and I welcome any comments or suggestions for improvement that you may offer.

©2010 by Don Stern - All Rights Reserved

(225)413-3634 phone (866)723-5477 fax

don@thehomevendor.com - email

www.TheHomeVendor.com www.DonAndAlishaStern.com

www.LiveAscension.com www.PelicanPointHomes.com

www.WaterfrontPropertyLA.com

Livingston Parish Real Estate Market Report - 1Q2010

The data used in this report were extracted from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors MLS database. The data are presumed accurate but are not warranted.

The data presented herein represent sales of detached single family homes in Livingston parish.

In previous blog posts, I shared how unit sales in Ascension parish were up in both new construction and re-sale market segments and that in EBR parish both segments were down in terms of unit sales. In Livingston parish, first quarter results for 2010 show an increase of more than 16% in unit sales in the new construction segment while the re-sale market segment dropped by almost 9%.

Average home prices in both market segments also dropped.

Looking at the average selling price per square foot of living area, it appears that the drop in new construction prices is due primarily to buyers purchasing smaller homes as the price per square foot has not changed appreciably. The drop in average re-sale home price, however, does seem to be related to a drop in the average $/sq.ft. price.

We’ll continue to monitor the market trends and report back to readers.

As always, I appreciate hearing from readers and I welcome any comments or suggestions for improvement that you may offer.

©2010 by Don Stern - All Rights Reserved

(225)413-3634 phone (866)723-5477 fax

don@thehomevendor.com - email

www.TheHomeVendor.com www.DonAndAlishaStern.com

www.LiveAscension.com www.PelicanPointHomes.com

www.WaterfrontPropertyLA.com

Livingston Parish Real Estate Market Report

The data used in this report were extracted from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors MLS database. The data are presumed accurate but are not warranted.

Despite the fact that unit sales of new homes were up 25% in the first two months of 2010 as compared with the same period in 2009, overall unit sales were down due to a 14.3% drop in unit sales of pre-owned homes. The next chart illustrates this. Unit sales in 2010 are very similar to what they were during the first two months of 2005.

In terms of pricing, new construction has remained approximately the same for the Jan-Feb period during the past three years. In the resale market segment, pricing has dropped about 1% from 2009 levels but is down more than 10% from the peak of nearly $100/sq.ft. which occured in 2008. The next chart illustrates this.

As always, I appreciate hearing from readers and I welcome any comments or suggestions for improvement that you may offer.

©2010 by Don Stern - All Rights Reserved

(225)413-3634 phone (866)723-5477 fax

don@thehomevendor.com - email

www.TheHomeVendor.com www.DonAndAlishaStern.com

www.LiveAscension.com www.PelicanPointHomes.com

www.WaterfrontPropertyLA.com

Baton Rouge Metro Area Real Estate Market Report

With seventy five percent of 2009 in the past, I took a snapshot of sales for detached single family homes in the nine parish Greater Baton Rouge Metro area. In addition to segmenting the data by parish, I also separated new construction from re-sale or previously owned homes. The data were extracted from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors MLS database. The data are presumed accurate but are not warranted.

The next three charts show unit sales, average selling price and average selling price/sq.ft. for new construction in each of the nine parishes for each year since 2004. Unit sales in 2009 are projected by assuming the same absorption rates for the remainder of 2009.

New Construction

In terms of unit sales we can see that in 2009 new construction is up significantly in Ascension parish, up a little in Livingston and West Baton Rouge parishes, and down or zero in all remaining parishes.

In general, we can see a drop in the average selling price of newly constructed homes.

The average selling price/sq.ft. in Ascension has been significantly lower in 2009 when compared to 2008. This reflects a shift toward more affordable new construction in Ascension. In East Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes, where there were significant levels of new construction sales, the selling price/sq.ft. was maintained at similar levels. In West Baton Rouge Parish, the average selling price/sq.ft. actually increased.

Previously Owned Homes

The next three charts show unit sales, average selling price and average selling price/sq.ft. for previously owned homes.

Unit sales for this market segment have remained relatively steady in 2009 as compared to 2008.

If one looks at both the average price and average price/sq.ft. charts for re-sale homes, we can see that, in general, home values are holding. While our 401Ks may have suffered, the equity we have in our homes may not have appreciated but neither have they lost much, if any, value.

As always, I appreciate hearing from readers and I welcome any comments or suggestions for improvement that you may offer.

©2009 by Don Stern - All Rights Reserved

don@thehomevendor.com - email

www.TheHomeVendor.com www.DonAndAlishaStern.com
www.LiveAscension.com www.PelicanPointHomes.com

www.WaterfrontPropertyLA.com

Greater Baton Rouge Foreclosures Analysis

1/1/2004 through 8/23/2009

Recently, there have been a number of articles in the media about the rising number of foreclosures. Indeed, three of the real estate transactions
that I am currently working myself are for bank owned properties. Unlike some other areas of the country, the Greater Baton Rouge real
estate market has not seen a dramatic drop in home prices which is common for areas with an increasing number of bank foreclosures.
I was thinking about this apparent contradiction on the way home from church this morning and decided to do some analysis.

I extracted a subset of data from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors MLS system. That subset included Residential properties (homes) which were
identified as REO (Real Estate Owned or Bank Owned) properties which were listed between January 1, 2004 and August 23, 2009. In my opinion,
some interesting things came out of my analysis. I created two charts both shown below. The first shows the number of bank foreclosures listed
in the MLS over the time period examined.

In the period between 1/1/2004 and 5/31/2005, an average of about 116 bank owned properties were listed each month. Since 6/1/2005 that average dropped
to 68 homes per month. Other observations are that in May of 2005 the number of bank owned listings spiked to 216. In the months after Hurricane
Katrina the number of foreclosed homes listed dropped substantially. I would hypothesize that, after Katrina, the demand for housing was so
high that people were able to sell their homes prior to being foreclosed upon. The rate of bank owned listings being added to the system
has remained lower than that observed prior to June 2005.

The second chart examines the same data set but further restricts it to just those REO properties in the Tri-Parish Area (Ascension,
East Baton Rouge, and Livingston Parishes.)

It appears to this author like all three parishes follow the same overall trends. Ascension and Livingston see foreclosure listings added at
about the same rate. The anomalous spike in May 2005 was less pronounced in Ascension than in either Livingston or East Baton Rouge Parishes.

In conclusion, I would venture the opinion that foreclosures have not had the impact upon home prices in our area that other areas of our
country have seen. Furthermore, since the rate of foreclosed listings remains low, I would not expect additional downward pressure on prices
directly due to foreclosures. I do believe that downward pressure in our area is do more to the indirect effect that national foreclosures have
had upon the availability of credit.

I would be very interested to hear different interpretations of these observations and would welcome comments.

©2009 by Don Stern - All Rights Reserved

(225)413-3634 phone (225)313-3698 fax

don@thehomevendor.com - email

www.TheHomeVendor.com www.DonAndAlishaStern.com
www.LiveAscension.com www.PelicanPointHomes.com

www.WaterfrontPropertyLA.com

Tri-Parish New Construction Real Estate Market Report

Through July 2009

This post deals with new construction in the tri-parish (Ascension, East Baton Rouge, and Livingston) area. The data used for this
report were extracted from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors MLS database. Only data relating to detached single family (DSF) homes
were extracted. For sales data new construction data were identified as those records having a status of New, Under Construction or
Proposed Construction. Current inventory for new construction included only those records having a status of New or Under Construction.

Looking at the next three charts we can see the average selling price per square foot of living area for each of the three parishes. In 2009,
new construction in Ascension parish sold for an average of $114.87/sq.ft. which is down 4.6% from 2008 where the price per square foot peaked
at $120.37/sq.ft. In East Baton Rouge parish new construction sold for $130.25/sq.ft. in 2009 which is up $1.05 from sales in 2008. Livingston
parish saw a modest decline in the price of new construction of $0.48/sq.ft. from a high of $105.05/sq.ft. in 2008 to $104.57/sq.ft. in 2009. A
statistically negligible decline.

Ascension Parish New Construction Pricing

>
East Baton Rouge Parish New Construction Pricing

>
Livingston Parish New Construction Pricing

The next three charts show the new construction breakdown in each of the three parishes by subdivision.

Looking at these three charts we can see that, while the type of home sold in the parish has shifted toward one costing less per square foot, Ascension
Parish was home to three of the top five selling subdivisions in terms of unit sales. The top five subdivisions were as follows:

Anyone wishing to discuss this analysis in more detail or to request additional analyses are encouraged to contact me. Additionally, I welcome any
comments or suggestions for improvement.

©2009 by Don Stern - All Rights Reserved

(225)413-3634 phone (225)313-3698 fax

don@thehomevendor.com - email

www.TheHomeVendor.com www.DonAndAlishaStern.com
www.LiveAscension.com www.PelicanPointHomes.com

www.WaterfrontPropertyLA.com

Livingston Parish Residential Real Estate Market Update- February 2009

The information presented in this post is based upon data extracted from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors MLS database.
For the purposes of my analysis, I included data for detached single family dwellings which sold in Livingston parish for the years 2004 through
February 2009. I identified the home sales as either New Construction or Re-Sale because, in my experience, they have distinct characteristics.

The following chart plots unit sales of new construction and pre-owned homes (the bars) as well as overall unit sales and the six-month moving average of
overall unit sales. We can see a generally downward trend in unit sales beginning in mid-2007. Examining more closely we can see that previously owned home
unit sales have retracted to pre-Katrina levels for this time of year but that new construction unit sales has dropped below pre-Katrina levels.

Examining the absorption chart by price/sq.ft. for homes in the re-sale market segment we can see that overall a buyer’s market exist but that for
homes priced below $110/sq.ft. a seller’s market exists. This is in the range where the highest velocity of home sales occurs.

In the new home segment, we observe that nearly half of the homes sold since the beginning of the year (8.5 out of 18) were priced below $100/sq.ft. and that in this
range a seller’s market exists. At all other price points buyer’s market conditions persist.

The following chart shows the history of average home prices in the parish since 2004. We can see that between 2008 and 2009 the average price of a new
home sold dropped over 7%. The average price of a previously owned home also dropped but only very slightly. Re-sale homes appear to be holding their
value.

The next chart examines new construction by subdivision. We can see that for most subdivisions where home sales have occurred, a seller’s market or near neutral market
exists. We can also see that a significant amount (over 60%) of inventory exists in subdivisions for which no home sales have occurred this year.

Based upon this analysis, I believe that in Livingston parish, the market for affordable housing is in pretty good shape overall. There are some serious issues
with respect to new construction but they seem to be related to price and location and a prudent home buyer could do quite well.

©2009 by Don Stern - All Rights Reserved

(225)413-3634 phone (225)313-3698 fax

don@thehomevendor.com - email

www.TheHomeVendor.com www.DonAndAlishaStern.com
www.LiveAscension.com www.PelicanPointHomes.com