New figures show a strong rebound in home sales in Lafayette Parish in September and October of this year compared to the same time period in 2008.
According to data submitted by Realtors in Lafayette, 399 units were sold in September and October of this year compared to just 299 in the September/October 2008 period — a 33 percent increase. The average home price, however, was down 4.5 percent from last year: $192,561 (2009) versus $201,733 (2008). Total homes sales in the period this year were $76,832,148 compared to $60,318,200 in 2008. Houses also spent slightly less time on the market: 80 days this year versus 88 last year.
While the numbers showed improvement, one Lafayette real estate executive says it’s premature to think the Lafayette market has entirely rebounded. “Last year the end of the year really dropped off after September on,” says Steven Hebert, chief operating officer of Coldwell Banker Pelican Real Estate. “It’s not really that it’s so much better this year, it’s just that it was really, really bad last quarter [of 2008], so we’re seeing some sign of recovery.”