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Officials promote B.R. residential real estate market

11/23/2008 11:00:00 PM

"It's time to give thanks for being here in Baton Rouge," says Linda Fredericks, president of the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors.

Officials promote B.R. residential real estate market

City and business leaders held a news conference this morning to bolster public confidence in the Baton Rouge residential real estate market. "It's time to give thanks for being here in Baton Rouge," says Linda Fredericks, president of the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors. The theme of the event, which was attended by Mayor Kip Holden and Adam Knapp, president of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, was that despite falling off its post-Katrina high, the local housing market remains strong, and that the economic downturn that's gripping large segments of the U.S. is absent locally. The number of homes sold in the Capital Region has dropped by more than 22% during the first 10 months of the year, from 8,268 in 2007 to 6,408 this year, but Fredericks says that’s only "one facet" of the overall market. She notes that home prices have increased and the inventory of houses has dropped since Hurricane Gustav in early September. Mike Anderson of the Louisiana Mortgage Lenders Association says that money is available for people who want to buy a house. Anderson says he's seen FHA loans for up to $280,000 going to people with credit scores as low as 580, as long as people put down a minimum of 3%. "There's no mortgage crisis in Louisiana," he says.

Timothy Boone

Business Report