If you’ve been dreaming about owning a home in River Ranch but have a budget under 300K, you will want to read this. And if you’ve read my latest article about home prices in Lafayette, you’ll quickly realize that it may also be your last chance to get into River Ranch at such a low price. You see, I found a builder who will build a home in River Ranch for less than 300K for one of my clients, and he is willing to do it for you, too!

If you have a budget under 300K and you want to live in River Ranch, your only option up to now was a condo. The cheapest home currently available in our MLS in River Ranch is 375K for 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 1615 square feet and I know of a For Sale by Owner asking 332K for close to 1500 square feet (also 2bd/2ba). Yes, homes are expensive in River Ranch with an average of nearly $217 per square foot for the currently available homes.

Of course, you can look at homes in other neighborhoods, but if you want to live in River Ranch, you already know that nothing will compare to River Ranch!  Here’s the home my client will get in River Ranch for less than 300K:

• 1400 to 1500 square feet cottage with double garage
• 2 bedrooms, 2 baths
• Granite slab counter tops in the kitchen
• Wood floor in kitchen, living, and master bedroom
• Large patio
• And more

If you would like to explore this unique opportunity for yourself or someone you know, contact me today for I can assure you that this offer will not last. Of course, if you want to build a larger, more expensive home in River Ranch or elsewhere, we’ll be happy to assist as well.

Cheers!

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

With all the never-ending news about the housing bubble, the record number of foreclosures, and the fall of home prices on a national scale, I can’t count the number of times that I’ve had to explain to my clients that none of this applies here in Lafayette, Louisiana. Real estate is a very local thing and Lafayette has been a different kind of place in the past few years when it comes to housing and housing prices.

If we look at home prices on a national scale since the 1970s, the bubble is obvious. Home prices almost doubled in a 7-year span between 2000 and 2007. Why some thought this would last is beyond me and beside the point. And while homeowners who bought at the wrong time in the wrong area may never recover the loss in the value of their home or investment, it’s easy to see that home prices have already recovered. Home values are now where they would have been had the housing market just followed its natural pace. This is what makes people say that we have hit bottom and that the tide is about to turn.

 Now look at the graph I found for Lafayette. There is hardly a bubble in this line.

Truth is, we did have a little bubble in Lafayette and there was an strong increase in home prices between 2004 and 2007. However, in August 2005, Katrina struck New Orleans and thousands of people relocated here wanting to purchase homes. I like to call it our “justified” real estate boom and as we can see on the above graph, home prices did not get out of hand.

Housing prices are based on supply and demand. When supply is low, as was the case in Lafayette after Katrina, prices do naturally go up. In 2007, housing demand returned to normal in Lafayette and home prices went flat as the market adjusted to its new supply and demand reality. And while the average price of a home in Lafayette did drop slightly in 2008 and 2009, here too, home prices seems to have recovered and be where they would have been without Katrina and a 4% appreciation every year.

Home Prices in Thousands of $

The good news is that if you purchased a home in Lafayette at the height of the market in 2007, it is pretty much worth the same today, and not 40-50% less (or more) as seen in other areas.

The bad news is that if you purchased a home in Lafayette at the height of the market in 2007, it is pretty much worth the same today. You can forget about the 4% per year appreciation, at least up to now.

What is surprising perhaps is that even with the influx of people after Katrina, unemployment remained low in our area. When people are working, they pay their mortgages and as a result, the percentage of foreclosures on the market in our area has remained in the low single digits (currently at 3% in Lafayette). Low foreclosure rate = real estate prices stability. It is, I think, safe to say that our prices didn’t fall much simply because they hadn’t risen uncontrollably due to speculation in the first place.

If you are thinking about buying a home or moving up in Lafayette or Acadiana, there may never be a better time to do so. Interest rates are still historically low (with nowhere to go but up), affordability is still at an all time high, and home prices have begun to rise. Contact me today to start your search!

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

Are you thinking about moving to Lafayette, Louisiana? If you are not and you are currently unemployed, you should be. On both the “2012 Best Cities for Job Growth” ranking by New Geography and in a new report from IHS Global Insight, Lafayette tops the list for job and economic growth.

On CNN Money’s Economy blog, Tami Luhby wrote: “Lafayette is expected to have the nation’s largest gain in jobs among metropolitan areas, thanks to its booming energy sector, according to a new report from IHS Global Insight. Employment is expected to soar 8.8% this year, while the area’s economy should jump 7.5%.”

Unemployment has remained low in Lafayette during the past few years compared to the national average. For the real estate market, it means fewer foreclosures and steadier prices. When people are working, they pay their mortgage.

If that doesn’t get you thinking about moving to Lafayette, maybe the food will. So far this year, Lafayette has been named the “Tastiest Town in the South” by Southern Living magazine,  and Parade magazine named Lafayette’s Dean-O’s Pizza the fourth best in the nation. Last year, Lafayette was chosen as “Best Food City in the USA” in the  Best of the Road USA Today contest. Truth it, and as a friend of mine once said, you can get better food here at gas stations than you can in most cities in restaurants!

And then, there’s the music, the festivals, the culture, the French language, and the overall “Joie de Vivre” you’ll find here in Cajun Country. This year,  Festival International de Louisiane was named Best World Music Festival in the Reader Choice Awards from About.com, a Gallup Wellbeing poll found Lafayette’s residents to be the second most optimistic in the nation and Livability.com named Lafayette as the fourth best spring break destination for families for 2012.

Do I really need to add more? Why don’t you come down and check it out for yourself? I know you’ll want to stay so keep my information and contact me when you are ready to buy a house and grow some roots in our beautiful Cajun Country.

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

Welcome to Boulder Creek Subdivision in Lafayette, LA! Boulder Creek is located on the south side of Lafayette and features homes starting in the $300,000 and up to the $700,000. The most expensive home in Boulder Creek sold for $1,030,000 in 2009.

Boulder Creek is a fairly young subdivision in the Lafayette landscape. The earliest recorded sales in our Multiple Listing Service (MLS) occurred in 2005. Located at 202 Boulder Creek Pkwy, the home pictured below is the most expensive one currently on the market listed at $769,000. It was built by LJ Trahan and it features 5,039 square feet with 5 bedrooms and 4.5 baths.

Boulder Creek features French and traditional style homes. To get to Boulder Creek, take Verot School Road past Ambassador Caffery, turn right on Vincent and left on Boulder Creek Pkwy. Vincent is also accessible from E. Broussard Road near Milton.

To view homes for sale in Boulder Creek subdivision, click here or on the link at the top of this post. (The link is refreshed daily so do not worry about when this post was written).

If you would like to visit homes for sale in Boulder Creek or elsewhere in the Lafayette area, let me know. I would love to help!

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

It has been a while since I reported about home sales in River Ranch. So far this year, 23 homes have sold in River Ranch compared to 16 for the same period last year. The graph below illustrates sales for the first six months of 2011 and 2012.

The average price of home sales in River Ranch is slightly down this year at $535,000 compared to $573,000 last year. However, the average price per square foot is up at $203 this year compared to $197 last year.

If you are considering buying a home in River Ranch, visit this link for a list of all available homes and condos in the neighborhood.

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News