Acadiana real estate down 13%

• By RICHARD BURGESS
• Advocate Acadiana bureau
• Published: Dec 6, 2008 - Page: 1BA - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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LAFAYETTE — The local real estate market has dipped for the first time in three years, ending a climb that began after the 2005 hurricanes, according to data for the first 10 months of the year.

Home sales in Lafayette Parish and the surrounding areas from January to October 2008 were down 13 percent when compared with the same period last year, according to a real estate market report from Van Eaton & Romero CEO Bill Bacqué.

In Lafayette Parish alone, the drop was 15 percent, according to the report, which is based of on listing information supplied by members of the Realtor Association of Acadiana.

Considering the state of the national economy, a drop was expected, but the local market is still faring better than many  other areas around the country.

Homes prices here have also fallen, but not by the same margin as sales.

The median home price in the Acadiana region for the first 10 months of 2008 was $154,000, down from $159,600 for the same period in 2007 — a 4 percent drop.

Looking only at Lafayette Parish during that time, the median sales price fell less than 1 percent, from $172,000 to $171,500.

The slight decline in sales prices comes after three years of steady increases.

The drop in sales prices has been tempered by fewer new homes hitting the market.

“One of the things we are pleased with is the new listing inventory is somewhat flat,” Bacqué said. “If you add more on to it, you’re just going to make the problem worse.”

New listings in Lafayette Parish ticked up less than half a percent when comparing the first 10 months of 2008 with the same period in 2007.

For the Acadiana region as a whole, the number of new homes put on the market dropped by 2 percent.

“The supply hasn’t significantly increased relative to last year,” Bacqué said.