Real estate report shows the metro is seeing growth

The Greater New Orleans Multi-Family Report for the first half of the year is out, and it points to continued growth in our area.

Overall the metro rental market is “very healthy” says Larry Schedler, the head of Schedler and Associates, one of the firms that puts the report together. “We’re averaging about 93% occupancy,” in the metro overall, and he says the historic center of New Orleans “is still a very dynamic market.”

Click here for the full Greater New Orleans Mult-Family Report

The rental market if usually the first to respond to either a gain or loss in jobs says Schedler. “If jobs open up, where’s the first place people move? They move to an apartment. If they lose their jobs, who are the first ones to have the flexibility and can move out? Generally an apartment dweller,” says Schedler.

That may be part of the reason parts of the metro outside the hottest areas (center New Orleans and St. Tammany), like the Westbank and New Orleans East are seeing more renters.

Schedler says the highest rents remain in the highest income areas, which are St. Tammany and center New Orleans.

The historic center of New Orleans is now seeing an average rent of nearly $1300 a month.

The report authors say “We continue to see signs of a multifamily market that overall is continuing to show gains in both occupancy and rental rates. This stability in our market has not gone unnoticed as investors/lenders continue to search for opportunities in the Metro New Orleans area.”

They say they anticipate more announcements of larger multifamily units coming on line in New Orleans as the new University Medical Center (UMC) and VA Hospitals get closer to opening.