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A year after Hurricane Gustav devastated the Ascension Parish area, real estate figures are showing a rebound in the local housing market.
August statistics for the Ascension market show slight increases in units sold and average sold prices, according to the Greater Baton Rouge MLS.
The average sold price rose to $222,227, a 4 percent increase from $213,356 a year ago.
Kristina Cusick, a Realtor with C.J. Brown Realtors, sells Ascension, Livingston and East Baton Rouge real estate. She said the latest numbers show promise for the market.
“Sales held their own in number of units while average sales prices increased. To borrow the line from Martha Stewart, ‘That’s a good thing.’ Average days on the market are also down again.”
Cusick said a spike may be in store over the next few months, due in part to the tax credit for first-time buyers.
“I know that personally I am busy with the first-time homebuyers trying to get in under contract in order to close before Nov. 30,” she said.
Homes priced in the first-time buyers’ price ranges will go quickly, especially if the houses are in good shape, Cusick said.
“That price range for my buyers has been under $200,000,” she added.
Cusick said much better figures are expected in the coming months compared to a year ago since the area was recovering from a hurricane.
“As we all so well remember, real estate came to a near screeching halt the last quarter of 2008 due to the damages sustained in Hurricane Gustav,” she said.
Agents have expanded their horizons to reach potential clients, especially through using new technology.
Cusick is among several area real estate agents who have extended their reach to potential clients online.
She maintains a blog called Jambalaya Wire on Word Press and utilizes Facebook.
Matt Noel, of Coldwell Banker Real Estate, supplements his traditional Web site, MattNoel.com, with growing online tools like Facebook.
The Donaldsonville native counts over a thousand friends networked through the site.
St. Amant native Cathy Waggenspack-Landry, of RE/MAX, also utilizes Facebook to network.
“Anyone else wants to buy or sell a home today?” she recently asked in a wall post.
However they reach clients, agents like Cusick agree that the area market appears to be on a positive swing, despite the turbulence seen throughout the nation over recent months.
A year after Hurricane Gustav devastated the Ascension Parish area, real estate figures are showing a rebound in the local housing market.
August statistics for the Ascension market show slight increases in units sold and average sold prices, according to the Greater Baton Rouge MLS.
The average sold price rose to $222,227, a 4 percent increase from $213,356 a year ago.
Kristina Cusick, a Realtor with C.J. Brown Realtors, sells Ascension, Livingston and East Baton Rouge real estate. She said the latest numbers show promise for the market.
“Sales held their own in number of units while average sales prices increased. To borrow the line from Martha Stewart, ‘That’s a good thing.’ Average days on the market are also down again.”
Cusick said a spike may be in store over the next few months, due in part to the tax credit for first-time buyers.
“I know that personally I am busy with the first-time homebuyers trying to get in under contract in order to close before Nov. 30,” she said.
Homes priced in the first-time buyers’ price ranges will go quickly, especially if the houses are in good shape, Cusick said.
“That price range for my buyers has been under $200,000,” she added.
Cusick said much better figures are expected in the coming months compared to a year ago since the area was recovering from a hurricane.
“As we all so well remember, real estate came to a near screeching halt the last quarter of 2008 due to the damages sustained in Hurricane Gustav,” she said.
Agents have expanded their horizons to reach potential clients, especially through using new technology.
Cusick is among several area real estate agents who have extended their reach to potential clients online.
She maintains a blog called Jambalaya Wire on Word Press and utilizes Facebook.
Matt Noel, of Coldwell Banker Real Estate, supplements his traditional Web site, MattNoel.com, with growing online tools like Facebook.
The Donaldsonville native counts over a thousand friends networked through the site.
St. Amant native Cathy Waggenspack-Landry, of RE/MAX, also utilizes Facebook to network.
“Anyone else wants to buy or sell a home today?” she recently asked in a wall post.
However they reach clients, agents like Cusick agree that the area market appears to be on a positive swing, despite the turbulence seen throughout the nation over recent months.
