259 single family homes are for sale

• High list price $2,300,000
• Low list price $24,500
• Average list price $163,682
• Median list price $139,900

64 homes are pending sale or under contract, priced from $16,900 to $349,000

Based on February sales (14), there is a 18.5 month supply of homes for sale in the area

Marrero LA 70072 | Number of Homes Sold | February 2010

As of February 2010, Marrero has seen 24 successful single family home sales, compared to 59 at the
same time last year.  This is a decrease of 59% in the number of home sales when comparing year to year.  However, with 64 homes under contract at this time, I would expect that gap to narrow over the next couple of months as first
time buyers race the clock against the expiration of the tax credit.

Get a free, up to date report of listings and home sales in your New Orleans West Bank neighborhood

Average days on market for homes sold in February was 97, while the average days on market for active listings is 118.

Marrero LA 70072 | Average Single Family Home Sale Prices | February 2010

The average February sale was $112,910, down from January and bringing the year to date average to $123,971.  It appears that there may be an input error resulting in the under reporting of at least one
sale, so this average will more than likely go up when the appropriate corrections are made.

More details about February homes sales in Marrero:

• FHA remains the most popular financing choice of buyers
• 29% of the sales were of bank owned or foreclosed properties
• 21% of sellers paid for a home warranty for the buyers
• 21% of sellers provided some type of closing cost assistance to the purchasers

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It was entirely too pretty to stay inside, so we hopped over the river and spent the morning walking through the French Market and Jackson Square. Soaking up the sights and the sounds of the city on a Sunday is a wonderful, inexpensive (FREE) way to spend a morning or afternoon and I was reminded how much I love this city that I was born and raised in.

We wandered through the French Market, ate alligator sausage on a stick and checked out the wares of the local vendors. The mouth watering aroma of roasted corn and sweet potatoes was drifting through the market…

On our way back upriver, we strolled along the Moon Walk which has a fabulous view of the West Bank of New Orleans and of the downtown area that hugs the banks of the river.

We wound our way around Jackson Square, stopping to watch a magician perform tricks, pausing to admire the work of local artists, ducking inside the cool interior of St. Louis Cathedral and admiring the beautiful architecture of the oldest neighborhood in New Orleans.

With a live band playing in the square right outside the Cabildo, we had to stop and listen to the talented street performers that were entertaining a huge crowd. It was easy to tell who the tourists were, because they don’t know the local songs…it was also easy to spot the residents wandering through, because they are the first ones to dance and sing along.

My out of town friends always swear that we have more fun than anyone else….what did you do with your Sunday?

In the meantime, they are renting and many of them prefer to live in a property that is more like a home and less like an apartment.  Here is your opportunity to own several rental properties on the West Bank of New Orleans.

Located right off of Ames Blvd. in Marrero LA, there are six doubles for sale that have recently been reduced to only $124,000 each.

Available properties and rents are:

5545-47 Jordan Drive -  5545 is currently rented for $800/month, 5547 is rented for $700/month

5549-51 Jordan Drive – both sides currently rented for $700/month each

5553-55 Jordan Drive – both sides currently rented for $700/month each

5557-59 Jordan Drive – both sides currently rented for $700/month each

5561-63 Jordan Drive – 5561 is currently rented for $800/month, 5563 is rented for $700/month

5565-67 Jordan Drive – 5565 is currently rented for $900/month (section 8), 5567 is rented for $700/month

Each of these all brick, 1800 square feet units are laid out the same and are next door to each other.  The owner has installed ceramic tile flooring in 11 of the units for easy clean up, making the occasional transition from one tenant to the next quick, easy and inexpensive.

Individual units have 2 bedrooms and 1 bath per side, with laundry rooms on the exterior.  Tenants pay all of their own utilities and supply their own appliances except for the range/ovens.  With central air and heat and newer roofs (replaced in 2006) they are available to purchase individually or as a package.

To schedule your private showing, please contact Terri Babineaux at (504) 258-5178 or terri@westbankliving.com.

Japanese Magnolia tree

One of my favorite signs of spring is the blooms on the Japanese Magnolia trees. They don’t last very long, so I had to grab the camera when I saw this one in Algiers this past weekend.  My neighbor tells me that the sure sign that winter has passed is when the pecan trees begin to leaf, but that hasn’t happened yet, so I’ll just be content with gorgeous pink blossoms.

Next weekend, we’ll spring forward into daylight savings time. I’m really looking forward to that extra hour of sunshine and the change to take more pictures all around the city.

HAPPY SPRING!

152 single family homes are currently for sale

• High list price $539,000
• Low list price $500 (HUD property with pre-existing liens on it)
• Average list price $180,946
• Median list price $148,000

52 homes are under contract or pending sale, priced from $50,301 to $339,000

Based on the number of homes sold in February (13), there is a 11.7 month supply of homes for sale in the area

Harvey LA 70058 | Number of Homes Sold | February 2010

Year to date, there have been 28 single family homes sold in Harvey, compared to 20 at the same time last year (an increase of 40%).

Average days on market for homes sold in February was 38, bringing the year to date average to 64 days.  Compare this to the average days on market for active listings of 115 and I expect that we will see this number rise over the coming months as homes that have been on the market longer begin to sell.

Harvey LA 70058 | Average Single Family Home Prices | February 2010

The average Harvey home price took a jump in February, bringing the year to date average to $142,100.  Part of the drop in prices when compared to 2009 can be attributed to the fact that 25% of the sales so far this year were of properties in Fair or Poor condition.  Homes in excellent condition are continuing to command higher prices.

Get up to date information on listings and sales in your West Bank neighborhood

Some more details about February 2010 home sales in Harvey:

• 6 homes were in Excellent condition, 3 homes in Average condition, 2 homes in Fair condition, 1 home in Very Good condition and 1 home in Poor condition
• 46% of the homes sold were bank owned or foreclosure properties
• 31% of sellers paid for a home warranty for the buyers
• 38% of sellers provided some type of closing cost assistance to the purchasers

All data is provided by GSREIN and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed

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172 homes are for sale

• High list price $1,200,000
• Low list price $24,900
• Average list price $215,009
• Median list price $169,000

36 homes are under contract or pending sale, priced from $70,312 to $449,900

Based on the number of Terrytown/Gretna homes sold in February (13), there is a 13.2 month supply of homes for sale in the community

Terrytown and Gretna LA 70056 | Number of Homes Sold | February 2010

Although the number of home sold dropped from January to February, year to date there have been 33 single family home sales, up from 28 at the end of February 2009.  With 36 pending sales, it looks like the area is off to a good start in 2010.  It remains to be seen if the volume will be sustainable after the first time home buyer tax credit ends on April 30th, so we will continue to track activity in the community.

Average days on market for homes sold in 2010 is now at 80.  As older inventory is cleared out, I expect this number to go up since the average days on market for active listings is currently 143 days.

Terrytown and Gretna LA 70056 | Average Single Family Home Sale Prices | February 2010

Prices took a jump in February, bringing the year to date average to $161,852. This is a slight increase over the 2009 average.  Again, we will have to track ongoing activity to determine if this is a true increase in sale prices.

Some more facts about Terrytown and Gretna home sales in February:

• Condition of homes was varied, with 5 homes sold in Excellent condition, 3 homes in Average condition, 3 homes in Fair condition and 2 homes in Very Good condition
• 39% of the homes sold were bank owned or foreclosure properties
• 31% of sellers paid for a home warranty for the buyers
• 23% of sellers provided some type of closing cost assistance to the purchasers
• FHA remains the most popular choice in home purchase financing

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Homes for sale in Terrytown and Gretna LA
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Here’s the thing…are you looking for a house or a home?

If all you need is a roof over your head, there are plenty (and I mean plenty) of rental options out there. Lots of home sellers that grew frustrated with the slow market have decided to rent their homes instead of waiting for a buyer.

But a home…well that’s a different story.

A home is where you mark the kids’ growth on the door jambs.  A home is where you reminisce about that terrible paint color the living room used to be.  A home is where you put your personal stamp on each and every room and then stand back and allow yourself that moment of pride in what is truly yours.

When my husband and I were first married, we lived in an apartment.  White walls, white tile, white baseboards, cheap cabinets, beige carpet.  No matter what we did, how we tried to decorate it on our limited budget, it looked like an apartment.  Not to mention that we had to park in the lot and schlep our groceries up the stairs.  Or that we could hear the neighbors through the walls if they raised their voices just a little or turned the stereo up past 2 on the volume control.  It was just an apartment.

Later in our married life, we had the chance to rent a house.  It had a yard, but we weren’t allowed to add a gate for easier access.  It had pink carpet that we couldn’t change.  It had hideous floral wallpaper that I just had to live with.  It was a house, but it still wasn’t our home.

When we were first able to buy a home of our own, it was in the 1980s. Rates were outrageously high, but we either didn’t know or didn’t care.  All we knew was that we wanted a home of our own to raise our daughter in.  A place where we could choose to paint a wall at whim – or even just knock the darn thing down if we wanted to.  It had nothing to do with a return on our investment, it had nothing to do with resale value, it had nothing to do with a long term plan.  It was nothing more than the desire to give our family the same thing we had grown up with.  A real home.

Over the years, we’ve owned a couple more places. Each time we moved, we left a piece of ourselves behind.  Whether in a garden that we toiled in or in a basketball goal cemented next to a driveway, there were traces of the fact that we lived and loved and laughed and played within the walls of those properties.  Our current home (dubbed the money pit when we started renovations years ago) has a collection of memories that bond the family together, even the older children who have since moved out and onto their own.  Each year, the Christmas tree gets placed in the same spot, the Easter eggs get hidden in the same irises in the garden, the grill gets pulled out to the same spot for summer BBQs and the orange tree in the back corner of the yard provides sweet fruit.  We look back and laugh and remember all of the good times we’ve had here and look forward to the memories yet to be made.

So, are you looking for a house or a home?

61 single family homes are for sale

• High list price $409,000
• Low list price $45,000
• Average list price $158,928
• Median list price $145,000

10 homes are under contract or pending sale, priced from $37,500 to $165,000

Based on February sales (3), there is a 20 month supply of homes for sale in Gretna

Gretna LA 70053 | Number of Homes Sold | February 2010

The 3 Gretna home sales that were recorded in February were all properties in need of major repairs, pretty much the type of listings that only attract investors with cash because the condition of the homes are so poor.  Otherwise, the city is on target with 6 sales year to date, compared to 7 at the same time last year.

Days on market dropped to 72, but again, remember that these investor properties sold faster than the typical home in the area.  It may take a couple of months for the averages to balance out and give a truer picture of the market, especially given that the average days on market for active listings is currently at 143.

Gretna LA 70053 | Average Single Family Home Sale Price | February 2010

The average sale price took a big hit in February due to the condition of the properties sold.  This should not be considered a real average for the area.  Average sale prices will balance out over the year as more owner occupant homes are sold.  If you are interested in receiving information on current listings and sales in your neighborhood, we provide free online reports of real estate activity in your West Bank neighborhood.

Related Articles:

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Home selling tips
Homes for sale in Gretna LA
West Bank Real Estate Market Statistics

Yeah, I know…we’ve said this before. But the difference is that this time we haven’t heard even a peep about the possibility of an extension.  It looks like this is really the end of Uncle Sam handing out rewards for home purchases and those buyers who are sitting back and taking their time in finding a home may end up leaving $8,000 on the table that could have been in their pockets.

Take into account low rates, a large selection of West Bank homes for sale and the tax credit and I can’t remember a time that it’s been more advantageous to be a home buyer.

Of course, you should still decide whether you are really ready to be a home owner before making a such a large purchase. If you are, and you want to take advantage of the tax credit, then you truly don’t have any time to waste.

Need a little help getting started with that home search? Tell us what you are looking for and we’ll get a free list of homes that match your wants, needs and budget to you right away.