Shreveport Home Sales Drop As Rentals See Big Boost

Things have been changing on the home sales front in Shreveport & Bossier City. The latest data from the MLS (multiple listing services) shows home sales for February are down about 13% and March sales are down by 5% from last year's numbers.
While sales are down, rental numbers are climbing. Those numbers show a 25% increase for February and 22% higher for March.

But data from the Northwest Louisiana Association of Realtors actually shows sales for March are up 2% from a year ago.

Reed Ebarb of My Property Manager says "with sales activity slowing, we're seeing many people choosing to lease instead of buying." He adds "we're also seeing many homeowners who can't sell their property choosing to rent it out instead."

What This Means for Buyers

This slow down will likely drive prices of homes down and it will also take longer to sell a home in the Shreveport-Bossier market. But Scott Hughes with the Northwest Louisiana Association of Realtors says home prices are actually up 10%. The average price of a home in Shreveport is now $230,000 dollars.

Why February Numbers Are Down

We do have to remember we had a weeklong shutdown because of weather and that halted most business activity in the region. That had a huge impact on the sales numbers in February.

One thing we also have to remember is that 2020-2022 were the highest years in sales ever due to Covid effect and interest rates below 4%. The market was on fire. Right now interest rates range from 6-7% and prices have gone up by about 40% since 2022.

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But if you look at the numbers over the past five years, the numbers we are seeing now are not very surprising. Prices are still higher than they have ever been and the slight dip we are seeing now is not expected to continue.