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Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Nobody actually lives here

Ikea  coming soon

Occasionally we look around at real estate listings like this one   or this one.  and this one and scratch our heads. Where is the money coming from?  No one has sufficiently explained it yet. 

I have no idea what's going on myself but I do have suspicions, particularly where it involves the short-term rental market.  There are renovations happening all over my neighborhood recently. Every time one is completed, that property then becomes host to an ever-rotating series of visitors. During Mardi Gras, it was particularly striking. I used to get to know the neighbors during parades.  In recent years, I've been talking more to tourists staying for the weekend in what used to be the neighbors' homes.

Of course from the city's point of view this is all good news. In the coming weeks, City Council is going to look into making all this underground activity legal.  Higher property values, higher tax collections, fewer actual residents to have to deliver services to.  Lots of money to be made in real estate, I guess. But nobody actually lives here anymore.

1 comment:

Nolaresident said...

Where is the money coming from?

Exactly my question. Has the median income for nola, or La. jumped up that much that average folks can afford a mortgage on these properties? Also add in the cost of homeowners insurance and flood insurance and you do have to ask yourself who these buyers are. I really wonder how long this market can keep going at this rate.