Metro New Orleans Housing Market Signals Recovery in 2024 After Turbulent Year

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Following a challenging year in 2024, numerous real estate agents across metro New Orleans report that the local housing market is beginning to show positive indications.

"I believe this description is accurate. 2024 turned out to be quite unpleasant. There were several factors contributing to this," remarked Arthur Sterbcow.

Arthur Sterbcow, a real estate analyst, noted that inflation and skyrocketing insurance costs were key factors contributing to the market’s struggles over the past year. Data from the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors (NOMAR) shows that the total closed sales in Metro New Orleans decreased by 3.8 percent during the first quarter of 2025 when compared with the corresponding timeframe in 2024.

Nevertheless, Sterbcow observes encouraging indicators, such as some steadying within the insurance sector and an increasing number of houses available. According to NOMAR’s statistics, the stock of properties listed for sale in March 2025 rose by 4.3% compared to March 2024, a patternSterbcow believes is advantageous for purchasers.

"If you're operating within a specific market with abundant listings available, it creates a highly competitive environment for buyers. Conversely, if you find yourself in a certain price segment of a market characterized by scarce inventory, sellers hold significant advantage," explained Sterbcow.

Although local trends show improvement, national forecasts paint a bleaker picture. According to a Zillow prediction, New Orleans is ranked among the top five U.S. housing markets anticipated to experience the least growth in home prices for this year. The list comprises:

Lake Charles: expected decrease of 7.8%
Houma: projected 5.8% decline
Lafayette: projected 4% decline
Johnstown, Pennsylvania: expected 3.9% decrease
New Orleans: anticipated 3.9% decrease

Sterbcow warns that these predictions oversimplify a complicated marketplace.

"You're covering numerous different parishes across various price points. Specifically, the higher end of the spectrum, above $400,000, has shown robust activity; this segment remains quite strong. On the lower end, however, where individuals face significant challenges due to insurance costs and rising inflation, we might observe weaker conditions in property values. Yet, these forecasts for home value increases merely represent averages from disparate figures and do not capture the complexities present locally," explained Sterbcow.

The second and third quarters generally see an increase in housing activities, and Sterbcow thinks that another reduction in interest rates might just provide the boost the market requires.

If that happens, he says 2025 could look far different from the year many realtors are eager to forget.

Spot a typo or grammatical mistake in our tale? Click Here To report this, please provide the headline.

Sign up for the Fox 8 newsletter YouTube channel .