market snapshots

Baton Rouge, the Capital of Louisiana, has withstood the economic slowdown of 2008-09 relatively well. Weekly wages increased from 2008, the Brooking Institution ranked Baton Rouge the 6th best performing metro area second quarter of 2009, and Forbes ranked BR as the 7th best mid-sized city for job growth. Also, GDP for Baton Rouge increased 1.1% in 2008 to $27.7 Billion outpacing US GDP.

More than four years since Hurricane Katrina and the ensuing levee failures devastated New Orleans, federal dollars and rebuilding has helped cushion the local economy against the national recession. The metro area has lost .9% of its jobs since June, compared to 4.1% lost nationally. The New Orleans area unemployment rose to 7.3% compared to 9.5% nationally.

Baton Rouge Real Estate Market Overview

October 3, 2008

The greater Baton Rouge commercial real estate market remains mostly steady despite prevailing national trends and uncertainty in the financial sector. Although a glut of space in all property sectors evolved post-Katrina (late 2005), the boom came late enough in the national economic cycle that local developers could see the direction the economy was heading long before Baton Rouge felt the effects. The result was a fortuitous slowdown in development allowing for greater absorption at still reasonable rental rates.

By Richard Stone, CCIM