So I was a little surprised when I pull the stats for June this morning to find that home sales were slightly down in Lafayette and Acadiana. I shouldn’t have been, though, because we are starting to hear from lenders that loan processing is backed up and taking more time than usual. Contract extensions are becoming common again.

Pending home sales, meanwhile, remain high at 754 for Acadiana and 512 for Lafayette parish. Perhaps another sign that deals are not closing very fast. Last year at this time, there were 502 sales pending in Acadiana and 323 in Lafayette parish.

Questions? Comments? Feel free to leave me a note here or contact me today to start you home search or home selling process.

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

Are you looking for things to do in the next couple of days to celebrate the 4th of July in Lafayette and surrounding Acadiana?

JULY 3rd in Sugar Mill Pond, Youngsville, LA

You can get a head start on your 4th of July party Tuesday, July 3rd, in Sugar Mill Pond with their Annual Independence Day Celebration. There will be face painting, pony rides, live music, hot air balloon rides and fireworks at 9 p.m. Fun for the whole family!

Red, White, and Boom: Park International and downtown Lafayette, July 4th, park opens at 5pm

The Acadiana Symphony Orchestra will be there again and this year and the concert will feature Grammy nominee Marcia Ball, the “Bayou Queen of the Piano.” There will also be activities in Parc Sans Souci where the Acadiana Symphony is hosting the Conservatory KidZone filled with water slides, face painting, arts and crafts, balloon animals, costume contests, and more. And in Parc Putnam, local bands will be celebrating with “Freedom Fest”.

Freedom Fest Line Up

4:00 pm – Rockin’ Rotarians
5:00 pm – Lafayette’s Bayou Boys
6:30 pm – Nik L Beer
8:15 pm – Chubby Carrier

Le Quatre de Juillet in Erath

In the small town of Erath, located about 30 minutes south of Lafayette, there is always a big celebration for the 4th of July. This year is the 66th edition of “Le Quatre de Juillet” in Erath and it is going on now.

There are eating contests, water fights, music, pageants, carnival rides, food and a large fireworks display on July 4th.

For a full schedule of events, visit Erath’s 4th of July Celebration web site.

St. Martinville’s 4th of July Celebration

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

Pending home sales are still on the rise in Acadiana and Lafayette parish reaching highs we have not seen since the post-Katrina days. This past week, we reached the 800 mark in pending home sales in Acadiana (808 as of this morning). There are now more pending sales in Lafayette parish alone (553) than there were in all of Acadiana at this time last year (498).

Real estate prices are determined by supply and demand.  In Acadiana and Lafayette parish, the supply of homes available has remained stable for the past few months while pending sales have kept rising. The inventory of available homes is thereby shrinking (distance between the two lines) suggesting that prices will begin to rise, and actually already have in certain areas.

In Lafayette and Acadiana, good homes do not stay on the market very long nowadays. We are seeing homes sometimes going under contract the day they are listed and the return of multiple offers on properties.

If you are a buyer and are not working with a Realtor who can notify you immediately when a new listing hits the market, that great house you will find on Zillow or Trulia 5 days after it was listed will be gone. Ask me how I can help you find the right home today.

With interest rates still below 4%, now is the time to buy a home and purchase investment properties. What are you waiting for?

Start your search here now!

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

We just listed 304 Burlington Ave in Shenandoah Estates (Broussard, LA) and this one is worth a look! This home features close to 1700 square feet of living area, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, tons of updates, making it a great buy at $175,000 ($103/sf)!

The inside has been updated to meet the demands of today’s buyers with laminate floors in living, dinning, kitchen, master bedroom and laundry, porcelain tiles in both bathrooms and soothing colors throughout.

The kitchen features stainless steel appliances and beautiful blue silestone counter tops while the bathrooms have cultured marble counter tops.

The master suite is very roomy with lots of natural light coming in.

The owner is offering a one-year home warranty for peace of mind. To view more details and photos of 304 Burlington, click here.

To make an appointment to view this home, contact me today!

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

Je veux prendre une minute aujourd’hui pour souhaiter une Bonne Fête de la St-Jean Baptiste à tous mes amis québécois et québécoises!

For those of you who do not know, I grew up in Quebec in a small town located about 40 miles from Montreal. Back then it was called Tracy. A few years ago, it merged with the town next door to become Sorel-Tracy.

Tracy is located at the intersection of the St. Lawrence River and the Richelieu River. Sorel is on the opposite bank of the Richelieu. Tracy is known as the Steel Capital and there are several large plants along the river in the area. Sorel once was an important port and had a thriving ship building industry during the second world war.

These are a couple of pictures I took last summer while we were in Tracy visiting family.

Regard sur le Fleuve: Park on the St. Lawrence River in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec.

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News