According to speakers at the University of New Orleans Economic Outlook and Real Estate Forecast Seminar last week, New Orleans is “in relatively good shape compared to the rest of the country” but will not experience significant growth or a true recovery until the region adds more jobs[1]. In fact, most speakers agreed with Rick Haase, president of Latter & Bloom Inc., that “the conversation is really about jobs” instead of real estate at the current time, with commercial real estate recovering slowly in large part because retail real estate is still suffering and with the residential market experiencing many of the same issues with foreclosures and falling prices as the rest of the country.
Interestingly, the downtown district of New Orleans is healthy and growing, due in large part to the $3.8 billion invested there since Hurricane Katrina – “more than any other downtown in the country.” Residential units in the area have doubled, which bodes well for retail since “shops always follow residents,” explained Kurt Weigle, president and CEO of the Downtown Development District. New buildings are also attracting more new tenants than old ones in many cases.
Do you think that New Orleans is a unique market or is it experiencing the same basic issues as much of the rest of the country? Do you agree that really, the conversation is all about jobs?
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[1] http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2011/06/to_bolster_real_estate_market.html
