October 2020 Housing Market Update

With the first week in the books for the month of October 2020 the real estate market continues to stay extremely hot. Today's buyers are taking advantage of historically low-interest rates and today's sellers are maximizing their profits at a time where the number of homes available is extremely low compared to historical norms. In today's market, the month of September ended with 2873 homes available for sale. That's the second-fewest homes being available on the market at one time, slightly below February 2017 when only 2856 homes were available looking at the data over the last seventeen years for the entire Greater Baton Rouge real estate market. 

I'm going to make a not so bold prediction to say that the number of homes available in August will be the fewest amount of homes available EVER recorded since we've been tracking the data. That prediction is based on a few things:

• The trend of buyers having the ability to purchase a bigger home than they would normally be able to afford due to extremely low-interest rates.
• The effect that COVID-19 is having on the needs of families to adjust their living environment. People are in need of more space to allow each family member to be able to not only enjoy their home but also having additional rooms or space for the kids to do their schoolwork and for adults to work from home has put a premium on those areas in today's market
• Sellers are looking to sell and as usual, move up to a bigger home or move down to a small home and because of the limited amount of homes that are on the market sellers are more likely to find buyers who are coming with their strongest offer to purchase with their initial offer
• Buyers don't have as many options nor the time to 'window shop' for homes  because if you come across a home that you really like, chances are there are many other people who like the home as well and many homes are getting multiple offers which is a benefit for sellers
• Investors are running rampant with many of the most desired homes that investors would normally target are getting over 40 offers on a property in some cases.

The unusual fall market has been different this year with the pandemic pressing the pause button on the market like many other industries during the normally busy spring housing months. I personally think that this hot streak will continue until the end of the year and it'll be interesting if the data supports a continued 'boom' season through the fall of 2021.

I've created a special website where you can view interactive charts of historical data for the Greater Baton Rouge real estate market. The graphs are always live and updated automatically monthly where you can see the real stats for what's going on in the real estate market and not just take someone's word for it! You can check out the data and see what's going on in your area by clicking the button below!

Rinaldi Jacobs Jr., e-PRO®, PSA
REALTOR® & Marketing eXpert
eXp Realty, LLC
2900 Westfork Dr, Ste 401
Baton Rouge, LA 70827
Office: 225-412-9982 ext 151
Direct: 225-330-7059
Rinaldi@225avenues.com
www.225avenues.com
Licensed in Louisiana