There’s a long overlooked housing market in the US that’s about to become a seller’s nightmare – and a buyer’s dream.
Welcome to Louisiana: a place bursting with culture, jazz, and fried gator bites – and now, a growing surplus of homes.
After a Covid-era boom, the state is experiencing what one local realtor calls a ‘post-pandemic correction.‘
A wave of listings is flooding the market. Due to sky high mortgage rates and soaring natural disaster insurance premiums, many residents in the already poor state can no longer afford to keep their home and want to cash in on their equity.
But buyers aren’t exactly lining up.
With economic uncertainty scaring off potential buyers, homes are sitting longer – forcing sellers to slash prices even further.
‘The more it sits, the less it gits,’ says Brook Freeman, a local realtor who’s been watching the shift firsthand.
Freeman says single-family homes under $300,000 are now common, and some sellers may soon accept offers closer to $200,000.
Areas in Louisiana where home prices are predicted to drop big in the next year
Monroe, Louisiana, where buyers can find an affordable home and a nice lifestyle
Jazz bands can be seen performing live for tips all over Louisiana
Louisiana realtor Brook Freeman says many people move to Louisiana and never leave
According to Bankrate, Louisiana’s median home price stood at $252,600 as of January 2025 – far below the national average.
Louisiana is the best kept secret in the country, Freeman says.
The Pelican State is known across the US for its peculiar mix of party towns (like New Orleans) and wild food, like fried ‘gator bites sold from street carts. No, it’s not chicken.
Even though the southern part of the state has seen its share of natural disasters, like the devastating Hurricane Ida in 2021, its affordability and culture still draws people.
‘People don’t leave,’ Freeman says.
‘And I don’t blame them. The culture, the food, the hospitality – you just can’t replicate that.’
One of the things Louisiana is known for is its lively festivals, she adds.
With more than 400 festivals a year, towns across Louisiana proudly proclaim themselves capitals of whatever they fancy at the moment.
Taylor Swift performs in New Orleans, one of the spots on The Eras Tour
Jazz and alligators both call Louisiana home, sometimes both are combined to name a bar
The median home rate in Monroe is around $250,000 to $260,000 for a single family home
Houma, Louisiana is one of eight spots in the state where potential buyers could buy a home
Louisiana is the best kept secret in the country, according to one local realtor
Rayne is the ‘Frog Capital of the World,’ Church Point is the Buggy Capital, and the Crawfish Corridor, or the Bayou Country Crawfish Trail, is a culinary road map that highlights restaurants and seafood markets serving crawfish dishes that stretches from Houma, Louisiana, to the Gulf of Mexico.
But now, it’s the housing market getting the attention.
‘It’s definitely a buyer’s market right now,’ Freeman says.
‘Inventory has gone up this spring – not because people are necessarily moving out of state, but because homes are sitting on the market longer.
‘Sellers are overpricing, testing the market, and now having to reduce.’
People are rushing to sell due to a range of factors, including rising insurance costs, (particularly in south of the state flood zones) a limited job market, and concerns about affordability due to low wages and high poverty rates.
Louisiana’s poverty rate is one of the worst in the US with 18.6 percent of the population living below the poverty line.
About 19 percent of Louisiana residents reported income below $31k, the federal poverty line for a family of four.
Many affordable suburbs in Louisiana are only an hour’s drive from New Orleans
The colorful French Quarter in New Orleans, where Mardi Gras takes place
The White Lotus star Jennifer Coolidge bought a home in New Orleans after a project there
Amy Schumer inside her New Orleans home where she gave Homeworthy a tour
Daisy Edgar-Jones in Louisiana swamp land in Where the Crawdads Sing
There are over 4.5 million acres of alligator habitat and marshes available in Louisiana
According to a recent Zillow report, there were 8 hotspots in particular in the state where potential buyers could snap up a home.
Houma, Lake Charles, Alexandria, New Orleans, Lafayette, Shreveport, Beaumont, and Monroe were all declared places where housing prices will drop from April 2025 to April 2026.
‘Compared to places like New York City, it’s night and day,’ Freeman says.
‘Here, you’re an hour from New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette. You get culture, beaches, and a backyard. What’s not to love?’
Spring is usually the most active for the local real estate market, but buyers are still hesitant because mortgage rates just rose again.
Louisiana’s housing market has seen its share of ups and downs.
Data from Louisiana Realtors indicates the total number of homes sold statewide in 2024 was 38,450, a 2.6 percent drop from the previous year.
‘Louisiana got hit hard twice,’ Freeman says. ‘First the pandemic, then Hurricane Ida. Every time there’s a storm, the market surges temporarily because people need rentals or they’re buying new homes after theirs are damaged.’
Most downtowns, like Monroe, in Louisiana are charming and smaller replicas of New Orleans
The skyline of Shreveport, Louisiana, which sits on the Red River, named for its red mud beds
Many towns in Louisiana are an hour from New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette
New Orleans, Louisiana, where homes will become more affordable in the next year
‘It’s not a crash,’ she says.
‘It’s a correction. Sellers are remembering those pandemic days when interest rates were at or 3 percent. But now they’re over 7 percent. The demand just isn’t there, because buyers are cautious.’
But, she adds, buyers should take an interest in the area.
Freeman says it’s a mix of oil field workers who work in the state’s rich oil industry, remote professionals, people getting divorced, people who need to relocate, and people escaping the high costs of bigger cities who are selling.
‘Most people just want their home equity because of the market,’ she says.
‘Coming in, we see people relocating from up north, looking for better weather, more space, and a different pace of life.
‘They’re stunned when they see how far their dollar goes here.’
Once they get there and discover the beaches, museums, world-class fishing and the foodie scene, they want the lifestyle, Freeman says.
Lake Charles, Louisiana has a charming downtown like most of the state’s towns
Alexandria, Louisiana is among the top spots in the state where buyers could afford a home
The state is filled with outdoor opportunities including river walks and boat tours
‘You walk through a French Quarter, take a trolley ride, eat a beignet, eat Louisiana food and suddenly you’re like, ‘I could live here.’
Mardi Gras madness spreads across the state, the bayou teems with wildlife and Louisiana is the birthplace of jazz, just to name a few reasons people love to call it home.
Live jazz performances and brass bands can be seen at nearly every bar and club in the state.
Louisiana’s Cajun and Creole cuisine is legendary. People come just to try the gumbo, spicy jambalaya, etouffée, crispy po’boys, and powdered beignets. French, African, Spanish and Native American dishes are all influences.
The swampy wetlands of the bayou are lined with cypress trees and are home to the state’s many alligators.
You may even recognize the scenery from movies and TV.
Thanks to generous tax breaks, Louisiana is often used for Hollywood productions. It was chosen as the location to film Where the Crawdads Sing, Steel Magnolias, Interview With the Vampire, and True Blood.
Celebrities even love Louisiana – after filming in the state both Amy Schumer and Jennifer Coolidge bought homes there. Schumer just showed off the home’s interiors with the house tour site Homeworthy.com.
Homeworthy, founded by TV producer Alison Kenworthy, is a media company in the home design space with over 1.2 billion minutes watched last year across its streaming and social platforms.
Mardi Gras is celebrated across the state not only in New Orleans
Taylor Swift hit New Orleans again to see the Kansas City Chiefs play the New Orleans Saints
Shreveport, Louisiana and a bridge over the Red River at dusk looking downtown
Eight spots in Louisiana are expected to see a big housing price drop by April 2026
Lafayette, Louisiana has a bustling downtown where many residents work
Football – and tailgating – is huge in Louisiana. The New Orleans Saints and the LSU Tigers are both in state and they both have diehard followers.
For even more proof Louisiana is a hotspot, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour stopped in New Orleans, where people from all over the state came to see her.
‘It was unreal,’ Freeman gushes.
‘Bubbles in the streets, glitter everywhere, people making friendship bracelets on every corner. And it felt so safe. The whole city came alive. And that’s all of Louisiana that has that energy.’
Freeman says the state has something for everyone.
‘We’ve got swamps, beaches, jazz, and boudin,’ she says. ‘We’ve got heart. And you won’t regret moving here – not for a second.’
Meanwhile, predictions that home prices would keep climbing in 2025 across the US missed the mark.
Real estate experts now say the out-of-whack home prices in other parts of the US are expected to drop too – and it’ll be the first time since 2011.
