<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1SC8al_1DetWFid00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1SC8al_1DetWFid00" width="1200" height="630" >The housing market in Louisiana has been a roller coaster for a while now. Soaring insurance premiums, high interest rates and lack of inventory have driven up costs and left some would-be buyers and sellers on the sidelines.Now, though, there may be glimmers of hope with real estate agents reporting increased activity. In the first six months of the year, sales were up nearly 7% in the greater New Orleans area, almost 4% in greater Baton Rouge and 5% in Lafayette, reporters from this newspaper found. Median sales prices also rose.That's due to many factors. Our insurance market, long a sore spot for homeowners, is stabilizing, so more insurers are willing to write policies again in areas of our state that they previously shunned. It also may be that buyers are getting used to interest rates hovering around 6.5%.Whatever the reason, we are glad to see the market recovering from the post-pandemic slump. But there is still a ways to go. Though median prices have risen, they are not keeping up with inflation. And the amount of time houses stay on the market has risen — to 71 days in greater New Orleans and more than 80 days in the Baton Rouge metro area.That's why we applaud policies on the state and national level that encourage home ownership and bring down costs. A home is often the biggest asset most families have, and owning a home can put people on the path to the middle class.Certainly, the work done by state lawmakers and Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple to address our insurance crisis is worthy of praise. State leaders correctly saw this as the existential threat it was to some Louisiana communities and acted with urgency. We are now seeing that work pay off with new insurers entering the market and premiums slowly start to come down. It's been a long-term effort, but we finally seem to be moving in the right direction. We previously applauded the fortified roof programs and reforms to our laws that aimed to make Louisiana's market behave more like that in other states.We also note that Congress recently passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act with broad bipartisan support. It aims to increase housing supply and prevent large institutional investors from snapping up single-family homes. These are worthy goals, and we will be watching to see what effect this has on making housing more affordable.But there are worrying signs on the horizon.We see in Louisiana a bifurcation of the state's housing market, with luxury homes selling in all-cash deals while lower-income buyers struggle to find starter homes. This isn't good for our communities or our young people. We challenge policymakers to come to the table with more ideas to make the dream of homeownership more attainable in the future for more people.</div></body>

Block Source: NOLA.com

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The housing market in Louisiana has been a roller coaster for a while now. Soaring insurance premiums, high interest rates and lack of inventory have driven up costs and left some would-be buyers and sellers on the sidelines. Now, though, there may be glimmers of hope with real estate agents...

Editorial: Affordable housing needs focused attention

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The housing market in Louisiana has been a roller coaster for a while now. Soaring insurance premiums, high interest rates and lack of inventory have drive

Editorial: Affordable housing needs focused attention

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