RE: Real Estate Podcast

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (00:00)
The March 2026 numbers are in and the spring market is showing real strength across the Bayou board. Close sales are up over 33 % compared to last March. Buyers and sellers are getting closer to meeting in the middle and affordability continues to improve. But under the surface, each parish is telling its own story and that's what we're breaking down today. Let's talk about

Ben Harang (00:39)
Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of the RE Real Estate Podcast. My name is Ben Harang and with me is my co-host Clint Galliano. How you doing today Clint?

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (00:52)
I'm doing wonderful, Ben. How are you doing?

Ben Harang (00:56)
I'm doing terrific, man. Life is wonderful. No complaints. Nobody wants to hear it anyway. So what are we going to talk about today?

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (01:07)
All right, well, it is that time of the month. numbers for the whole Bayou board. market update, we covered Houma and Thibodaux

and then some specific zip codes related to Houma and Thibodaux So this month we're covering the parishes that make up the Bayou Board in addition to Houma in Thibodaux. So we're gonna start it out with the, kind of the overall headline numbers for the total Bayou Board. And first up is closed sales. those surge 33.6 % year over year.

these are numbers for the month of March. So that means that in March we sold a third more homes than what we did in March of last year. And year to date sales are up 24 % year over year. So that last year was 282 and this year's 350.

Ben Harang (02:16)
Wow. It is. It is wild. Pending sales are up 9.8 % for the month and up 22.4 % year to date. The spring surge is real.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (02:17)
How crazy is that?

Indeed. The new listings dipped 5.9 percent so that was 221 down to 208. Year to date it's down 2.6 percent and so sellers are still coming in cautiously.

Ben Harang (02:50)
Mm-hmm and the the month supply for the Bayou board board wide went from 7.8 to 6.5 months of inventory Which is a 16.7 percent drop As the inventory continues to tighten

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (03:09)
Now the median sales price dipped slightly to just under $199,000. That's about a 1 % drop slightly over that. But the average price rose 2.8 % to just a little over 216,000.

Ben Harang (03:31)
And then the percentage of list price received on closed sales ticked up to 96.8%, up almost a half a percent as buyers and sellers get closer to an agreement.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (03:51)
And the big news is that the housing affordability index is up to 143. So that's up 3.6%. So that affordability has at its best in recent memory. That's really good news because that's kind of a big thing nationally is that homes are unaffordable. So with that index going up in our area, it's a great thing for people that are looking to buy a home

Ben Harang (04:20)
So just note that now is the second consecutive month showing strong close sales growth, which suggests the spring market isn't just a one month blip. So it's real, it's here, we're living it, and everybody I talk to is super busy.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (04:44)
All right, next we're on to looking at some differences between February's numbers and March. Just kind of a little gut check. February close sales were up 25.9 % year over year. March is up 33.6%. So that's acceleration. It's not just momentum.

Ben Harang (05:10)
February pending sales were up 14.7 % March up 9.8 % is still growing but from a higher base. So we can't keep that rate going but it's still growing from higher from a higher base.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (05:28)
and inventory. February we had 6.6 and March is 6.5. So that's it's steady tightening.

Ben Harang (05:39)
It is, and you could see buyers don't have as many options as they once had. That's why if you're going to get in the game, now's a good time to get in. So the percentage of list price received for February was 95.5 % to March is 96.8%, which is a meaningful jump in a one-month time period.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (06:06)
And it's sold to list price jump in one month, it's a metric to watch. That means sellers are getting a little bit more of their asking price as the buyers compete for shrinking inventory.

I'd say the buyers are having a little bit more of a struggle on average.

Ben Harang (06:27)
And then some metrics to look at. The affordability is up, sales are up, inventory is down, list to sale ratio is improving. That's four positive indicators that are all moving together in the same direction.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (06:44)
It's always a beautiful thing.

Ben Harang (06:46)
It is. It is.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (06:48)
All right, up next we're looking at the Houma market update. So the March 2026 Snapshot. All right, so market type based on inventory. It's a buyer's market but moving towards balanced.

Ben Harang (07:05)
With the months of inventory at 6.59 % down almost 5 % month over month and down 13 % year over year. At 6.59, it's a little over a balanced market. Six months of inventory is what is typically considered a balanced market. So it's... ⁓

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (07:28)
Yeah, it's right on that fence

Ben Harang (07:30)
is getting closer to a typically balanced market.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (07:37)
Alright, sold to list price is 97.4%. So that's up from 95.5%. So that correlates with what we've seen in the board-wide market. That's significant.

Ben Harang (07:53)
So the median days on the market is 62, which is down 30 days from February. It was 92 days in February, which is a 33 % drop in days on the market. That is absolutely insane.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (08:09)
median sold price is $212, so that's down 1.4 % month over month.

Ben Harang (08:17)
And then the median estimated property value is down four tenths a percent month over month at $226,000 and up 2.8 % year over year. So that essentially didn't change.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (08:35)
Now, what that's telling us is that the properties in Houma are selling for under their estimated value.

And the median active list price is $2.46.5. That's up 4.9 % month over month. And that continues on from our discussion from last month in that properties are still being priced or overpriced and selling for way below list price.

Ben Harang (09:09)
Right, and then the median new pending list prices is $215,000, which is up 2.4 % month over month. So I know these are lot of numbers we're throwing at you, but at the end of the day, the real estate market across the Bayou Board region is improving.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (09:31)
Houma was warming up fast. In just one month, the February picture of a clear buyer's market with 92 day sitting times has shifted meaningfully. Days on market dropped from 92 to 62. A full month shaved off. The sold to list jumped from 95 and a half to 97.4.

Inventory tightened 4.8 % in a single month. Active list prices jumped 4.9%. So here's a contrarian note. The median sold price actually dipped from 215 to 212,000. 34,500.

dollar gap between the median and active lists 246.5 and the median sold 212 is still significant, meaning overpriced listings are being filtered out.

Ben Harang (10:27)
It means the ones that are priced right are selling and those that are not priced right are not selling. So this is the kind of one month shift that changes conversations. If I was advising a Houma or buyer in February to take their time and negotiate hard, that advice needs updating. The window for maximum negotiating leverage is narrowing.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (10:30)
That's right.

Ben Harang (10:54)
So again, if you're in the market to buy something and you're waiting for the market to change, it's changing before our eyes. For investors, the combination of rising list prices and faster absorption suggests the acquisition window at discounted pricing may be closing.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (11:15)
And for sellers who are hesitant to list because of the slow February market, March is showing that properly priced homes are moving twice as fast. The 62 days on market is meaningfully better than February's 92, and improving sold to list ratio is meaning that you're keeping more of what you asked for.

Ben Harang (11:35)
Houma is still a buyer's market on paper, but the trajectory is clearly moving towards a balanced market. If you're a buyer, don't assume you'll have the same leverage in May or June that you had in February. If you're a seller, price it right, and you're now going to get closer to the 98 cents on a dollar once you price it right.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (11:59)
calling it now.

Ben Harang (12:00)
Go ahead.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (12:02)
All right, Thibodaux market update. Here's the March 2026 snapshot. Market type is a seller's market. Include contrast to Houma was buyer's market or barely buyer's market. Months of inventory. Why don't you take that one, Ben?

Ben Harang (12:20)
Months of inventory, we only have a little over four months of inventory, which is actually up 5.7 % month over month and down 7.3 % year over year. That four number puts us squarely into a seller's market in Thibodaux

And based on negotiations that have occurred and are ongoing, there's no doubt it's a seller's market in Thibodaux

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (12:49)
Yes indeed. Alright, sold to list price 96.5%. That's down 2.5 % month over month.

Ben Harang (12:59)
And my thought on that one is because it's a seller's market, sellers are getting aggressive and wanting more to list. But the prices are really not changing as fast as the sellers want them to increase. So that's just an observation. Median days on the market in RPR is 43 days, up roughly 12 days from February.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (13:16)
I can see that.

Ben Harang (13:25)
But 43 days from list to close is like, if you're to put your house on the market and it's priced right, I tell people pack your rags get your suitcase is ready because when we put the sign in the yard, the house will sell.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (13:41)
Yeah, because that's kind of crazy. mean, so when I'm working a buyer and I write a contract, I write it to close in 45 days, roughly. Sometimes it's a little bit less, sometimes it's a little bit more, but you know, that's pretty much that it's getting a contract on day one it's on the market and closing within six weeks.

Ben Harang (14:06)
closing in less than 45 days from the days on the market, not the day ⁓ a purchase agreement is written ⁓ The median price, median sold price essentially stayed the same at a little over $251,000.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (14:09)
Yep. That's right.

Yep.

That's up barely up, just barely ticked up. The estimated property values, just a shade under $250,000 and that's up just 7 tenths of a percent year over year.

Ben Harang (14:37)
So here's an interesting number. The median active list price is $278,000, while the median new pending list price is $225,000. So it's over $50,000 difference, the median between the active list price and the list price of the houses that actually went under contract in March.

So again, the higher the price houses, the longer it takes to sell, the lower the prices, the faster they sell.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (15:14)
the big story here is that Thibodaux is a different animal. Where have I heard that before.

Ben Harang (15:20)
Yes. That is so true. That is so true.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (15:23)
So if Houma's story is that it's a buyer's market warming up fast, the Thibodaux story is that it's a seller's market showing early signs of friction. Three data points tell the tale.

Ben Harang (15:36)
The sold to list price went in the opposite direction of Houma Houma jumped from 95.5 to 97.4%. Thibodaux dropped from 99 % to 96.5%. Sellers got less of their ask price, but I think the ask price went up.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (15:57)
Active list prices are up 4.6 % month over month, but new pending list prices are down just under a percent. pushing asking prices higher, but homes actually going under contract are the lower priced ones.

Ben Harang (16:14)
And then the gap between a median active listing is at $278,000 and a median new pending listing at $2.25 is $53,000 or about 19%. So again, the average, the median listing is $278,000. The median list price of the houses going on the contract is $225,000. So.

the, again, the lower price houses are selling a whole lot faster than the houses 300,000 and above.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (16:53)
Yeah, and that's like your Cane Ridge houses and maybe some of your Field Chase stuff.

and your other resale houses. All right, so Thibodaux's fundamentals are the opposite of Houma's in almost every direction. Nicholls State, Thibodaux Regional, and Lafourche Crossing Corridor keep demand baseline elevated, and the four months of inventory reflects that. Buyers shopping in Thibodaux can't approach it the same way they are in Houma Leverage isn't there.

Ben Harang (17:04)
Yeah.

But here's what sellers in Tibet need to hear. The 4.6 % jump in the active list price not a green light to overprice your house. The sold to list percentage dropped to 96.5%. And the pending pool is coming in at 2.25, well below the $278,000 median list price. In plain terms, the homes pricing

realistically are moving and the homes chasing the top of the market are sitting. Even in a seller's market, you have to price with the comps, not aspirations.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (18:09)
All right, now for the investor angle. Thibodaux's median sold price of $251,000 is about $39,000 more than Houma's $212,000. That price premium, that's just insane. That price premium puts the tighter inventory plus the tighter inventory means acquisition opportunities at a discount are scarce here.

Ben Harang (18:22)
That's crazy.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (18:35)
If you're hunting for value, Houma is still the better playground right now. If you're hunting for stability and tenant demand driven by anchor institutions, Thibodaux owns the premium.

Ben Harang (18:48)
and it's a matter of what sandbox you want to play we're going to talk about the four parishes now. We talked about the Bayou Board of Realtors, MLS wide. We talked about Houma. We talked about Thibodaux. So now we're going to take Lafourche, Terrebonne, St. Mary and Assumption and just kind of see where those numbers go and you'll see.

different stories in each parish.

So Assumption Parish, Assumption Parish is typically a buyer's market. It historically has been and seems like that's where it is.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (19:27)
Yeah, and as far as inventory, they're at seven and a third months of inventory. That's up a little over 2 % month over month, but down 16 % year over year.

Ben Harang (19:41)
The median estimated property value is $197,000 up 1%. So it's up a little less than $2,000.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (19:53)
median active list price is a little over $246,000 and that's up almost 15 % month over month.

Ben Harang (20:02)
And then the median new pending list price is $160,000 as opposed to typical at what was it two and a quarter. It's a completely different real estate market in Assumption Parish.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (20:15)
Yeah.

As far as sold to list ratio, days on market, median, sold price, none of those are reported ultimately just because of a low single month volume in assumption for March.

Ben Harang (20:37)
Yeah, the data and assumption is the thinnest that we have between the four parishes we operate. The gap that sellers are asking at $246 and what's actually going on the contract at $160.

is an $86,000 difference. So if you price it right, it'll sell. If you don't price it right, it's gonna sit. The higher end listings are sitting. The realistically priced ones are moving. Inventory is down 16 % year over year, but 7.33 months of supply still puts buyers firmly in a driver's seat as they negotiate on the listings.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (21:20)
All right, next up, Lafourche Parish. And Lafourche is sitting in a balanced market. And it's the only parish of the four sitting dead center. It's got 5.77 months of inventory, which is up just under 2 % month over month and down 12.3 % year over year.

Ben Harang (21:46)
And then the sold to list price is 95.6, which is actually up 1.6%.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (21:54)
down.

Ben Harang (21:56)
I'm sorry, down 1.6%. You're right, my bad. Can't get it all right all the time.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (21:59)
It's all good. All right.

Hey, you know, everybody's perfect all the time except for that one time, which makes them even more perfect, right? All right. Median days in RPR for Lafourche Parish is 54. That's up 12.5 % month over month. That's still not shabby.

Ben Harang (22:12)
Except us,

And it's

not shabby. It's not shabby. But if you think about it, Thibodaux at 43 days, Lafourche Parish is at 54. So to get 43,

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (22:35)
and the bulk of that volume

is intibative.

Ben Harang (22:38)
Right, right. So the ones that we're selling outside of Thibodaux as we go down to buyer, you get slower and slower. So the median Sold price is $201,500, which is down 9.8%.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (22:57)
median estimated property value is a little over 232,000 and that's up just under 1 % year over year.

Ben Harang (23:08)
And then the median active list price is $246,000 up 6.8 % month over month.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (23:18)
and the median new pending list price is 197,000. And that's down just about 8.5 % month over month.

Ben Harang (23:30)
So Lafourche is has the broadest geography of the group. Thibodaux is in another part of the parish down through Raceland, Larose, Galliano, Golden Meadow and out to Port Fouchon.

Active list prices jumped 6.8 % month over month to $246,000, but sold prices dropped 9.8 % from $201,500, uh ...to $201,500 And new pending list prices dropped 8.4%. The listings coming to the market are pricier, but the listings actually moving on the lower end of the scale.

The market is absorbing affordability and rejecting aspirational pricing. like that. Aspirational pricing, which you think you want.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (24:23)
So that kind of seems to be the story going on almost across the board. ⁓ And I get it. But it also ties into what we see on a regular basis is that the buyer pool for the higher priced properties is smaller than what we see selling our what we call our bread and butter pricing bands.

Ben Harang (24:29)
Mm-hmm.

Absolutely.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (24:52)
All right, next we've got St. Mary Parish. They're definitely in a buyer's market and they're the most buyer-friendly of the four parishes.

Ben Harang (24:53)
You

So the months of inventory in St. Mary Parish is 8.8 months of inventory, which is almost three points higher than a balanced market. That's actually down 2.8 % month over month and down 34 % year over year, the largest year over year drop of any of the parishes. Again, St. Mary is not as thin as assumption, but it's still pretty thin.

as far as the data.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (25:32)
Alright, sold to list 96.2%. That's up 7.3 % month over month and also the biggest improvement.

Ben Harang (25:40)
In the median days in RPR is 149 days up 44 % month over month with the longest sitting time in the board area. Ouch.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (25:57)
that tells me is that there's opportunity for people looking to invest.

Ben Harang (26:01)
right or live. The deals are to be made in Assumption in St. Mary if you're not going to be selling them in six months.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (26:04)
I live.

All right, median Sold price is $155,000 and that's up 8 % month over month.

Ben Harang (26:12)
Let's see who's up.

And then the median active list price is $200,000 up 12 % month of a month.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (26:31)
median estimated property value is $148,000. So that's a little over 2 % month over month, but down 5.5 % or so year over year. that's fairly close to the estimated property value is fairly close to the Sold price, which is kind of interesting. See that lining up.

Ben Harang (26:56)
I think that's

the closest they are in the three in the four parishes. And then the new pending list price is 174.9 which is up 45 % month over month but it's almost $25,000 below the active list price.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (27:02)
Thanks, so.

It's aspirational.

Ben Harang (27:20)
There you go. Aspirational. I need to put that in my repertoire.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (27:25)
you

Ben Harang (27:26)
All right. So St. Mary is a study in contradiction. It's the softest market by most measures, but inventory has collapsed 34 % year over year. The sharpest tightening in the footprint.

A market that was deeply buyer favorable is finally starting to heal. The $155,000 median sold price with $200,000 median active list price means real deals still exist for patient buyers, but the window is narrowing fast. Can't impress on you enough if you've been thinking about buying a house.

now is the time to buy. Regardless of where you want it to be, if you're going to be in Thibodaux, you can find something in Thibodaux. If you want to be in St. Mary or Assumption you can find a better deal into Houma You can probably still find a deal, but they're fewer and further between.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (28:26)
speaking of Houma, let's talk about Terrebonne Parish. All right, that's right. Yeah. When you think Houma, you think Terrebonne Parish. All right, so Terrebonne Parish is still a buyer's market, like we're similar to it's getting closer to being on the fence.

Ben Harang (28:30)
That's where Houma is located. didn't know that. Chaw. Chaw.

Yes you do.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (28:52)
It's same classification as Houma, but it's slightly softer picture with the whole parish view because it includes all the outlying areas.

Ben Harang (29:02)
The months of inventory is 6.96, which is down for almost 5 % month over month and 14 % year over year. So it's getting better.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (29:14)
sold to list is 97, almost 97 and a half percent, and that's up almost five percent month over month. And it's tied with Houma for the highest in the board.

Ben Harang (29:26)
And I think that's coming from more realistic pricing on the listings. The median days in RPR is 78 days, which is down 19 % month over month. So that's getting better. That's a good sign.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (29:45)
median Sold price is a little over $200,000 and that's a little over 10 % month over month.

Ben Harang (29:55)
then the median estimated property value is $223,000. Not quite half a percent up month over month and up almost 3 % year over year.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (30:08)
So that's opportunity there. that's the sign of deals being had.

And then the median active list price is $235,000 and that's a little over 2 % month over month.

Ben Harang (30:16)
You're right.

And this is the closest one. This one just jumped out at me, Clint. The median new pending list price is $230,000, where the median active list price is $235,000. In the other areas, we were looking at a $50,000 plus difference between the pending list price and the active list price.

So this really means the list prices are coming in line with the closed prices, which also supports the 97.5 % list to sold price.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (31:03)
Yep, somebody's paying attention.

Ben Harang (31:06)
Mm-hmm.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (31:07)
standout data point is 15 % month over month jump in new pending list prices to 230. Homes going under contract right now are priced meaningfully higher than what was pending in February. And forward looking evidence of price momentum combined with the 14 % year over year inventory drop and almost 3 % 12 month estimated value growth.

Terrebonne looks like the parish with the most consistent upward trajectory, which is a nice turnaround.

Ben Harang (31:40)
It is. is. So which parish is the strongest performer and which offers the best opportunity for buyers or investors? Based on the numbers, Lafourche and Terrebonne, parish-wide, are the strongest performers, with Thibodaux in Lafourche and Houma in Terrebonne leading the way in Lafourche and Terrebonne.

And then Assumption and St. Mary offer the best opportunities for buyers and investors. So if you're looking for a deal, you'll probably be attracted more into Assumption Parish and St. Mary Parish, but there are deals to be had in those two parishes. But if you're going to go there, be in it for the long game. Don't go buy something thinking you're to get out in six months or a year. ⁓

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (32:27)
Yeah, definitely

not flip opportunities.

Ben Harang (32:28)
Be the,

right, right. Be in there for five plus years and I think you have a deal going on.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (32:37)
thinking about how the outlying areas compare to the urban cores of Houma and Thibodaux, we've discussed this multiple times. Outlying areas are just the market is a lot slower in those areas. In a lot of cases, the costs and expenses are more.

mainly due to insurance, homeowners and flood. Ultimately, the people are drawn to the urban cores because that's the place to be.

Ben Harang (33:15)
Cross parish comparison. Hopefully we can put this in the show notes, But the market type in the four parishes, assumption is balance, is a buyer's market. Lafourche is balanced, trending on a selling, seller's market.

St. Mary's is a buyer's market. Terrebonne is a buyer's market trending towards a balanced market.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (33:40)
Months of inventory for Assumption is 7 1 3rd, Lafourche is 5 3 4th, St. Mary is 8.8, and Terrebonne is just under 7.

Ben Harang (33:55)
Then the inventory year over year change, the inventory is down. And assumption is down 16%, Lafouche is down 12%, St. Mary is down 34%, and Terrebonne it's down 14%. So the buyer has fewer options to buy.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (34:17)
Indeed. Sold to list. All right, for assumption, we don't have a sold to list for March. In Lafourche, it's a little over 95.5%. In St. Mary, it's a little over 96%. And in Terrebonne, it's just under 97.5%.

Ben Harang (34:38)
And then the days on the market, again, assumption doesn't have statistically enough to have an average days on market or median days on market. Lafourche is 54 days, St. Mary's 149 days, and Terrebonne is 78 days. So if you're looking for a deal, it probably has to be a St. Mary property.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (35:03)
All right, median Sold price. Again, assumption there isn't enough data for them to compile that. little over $200,000. St. Mary is $155,000. And Terrebonne is literally just a couple of hundred dollars less than Lafourche. Just over $200,000.

Ben Harang (35:31)
The fusion terrible and right at two hundred one thousand dollars. So the median active. Yeah. Friendly competition. The median active list price in assumption is two hundred and forty six thousand. Lafourche is two hundred forty six thousand. St. Mary, it's two hundred thousand in Terrebonne its two hundred and thirty five thousand and Terrebonne. If you remember the.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (35:35)
neck and neck, neck and neck, call that race.

Ben Harang (35:59)
the median pending list price was only $230,000. So that's the tightest those two numbers are in a four parish area.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (36:10)
And speaking of tightness, which parish has the tightest inventory?

Ben Harang (36:16)
We beaten that dead horse. So, right, right. It includes Thibodaux. Thibodaux is a city not the parish, but for context, it's 4.07 months of inventory is tighter than any parish. Lafourche leads the four parishes at 5.77 months of inventory.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (36:20)
Yep. So, and we're talking Thibodaux aside, right?

Ben Harang (36:46)
with Terrebonne at 6.96 and Assumption at 7.33 and St. Mary at 8.81. And what I point out with statistics, because anybody, how do you say that? Yeah, that's it. That's it. Without the inventory in Thibodaux, the

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (37:01)
Lies, damn lies and statistics.

Ben Harang (37:09)
inventory in Lafourche Parish would be higher than a 5.77. Without the inventory in Houma, the Terrebonne inventory would be higher than a 6.96. Houma and Thibodaux will bring down the numbers and make the whole parish look more competitive than it would be without them.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (37:29)
All right, so where are buyers getting the best deals? So St. Mary and Assumption by price point. If you're looking at it purely by price point. With the median Sold price in St. Mary of $155, it's the lowest in the board. Assumption's got a median new pending list price at $160. That's the next lowest entry point.

St. Mary's still favors buyers with 149 days on the market, but that leverage is eroding fast because that is dropping. So if you're first time buyer or an investor hunting value, St. Mary and assumption of where your dollars will stretch further. I think this is gonna be the third time we talk about this today.

Trade-off is slower appreciation, because it is true. Trade-off to that is that you have slower appreciation and thinner comps

Ben Harang (38:15)
Well, because it might be true.

So where the house is selling the fastest. I'm gonna sound like a broken record. Lafourche closes in 54 days, Terrebonne in 78 days, St. Mary in 149 days. And assumption is so thin, there's no reportable days on the market.

Lafourche is moving faster than the other parishes, but remember, Thibodaux sits inside of Lafourche at 43 days, and that's pulling the parish average down. The rest of Lafourche is closer to Terrebonne's pace.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (38:53)
and most opportunity for investors. So cashflow investors with tight budgets, St. Mary. It's lowest entry point, longest negotiation window, and biggest year-over-year tightening signal.

Ben Harang (39:08)
appreciation focused investors. Terrebonne is 2.8 % year over year estimated value, 15 % month over month on new pending list prices and 97.4 % of lists have sold to list price. So it's definitely tightening up in Terrebonne.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (39:29)
deep value contrariates. So if that's your MO, assumption parishes where you need to be. The $86,000 spread between the active list and the new pending list means that patient investors can get real discounts on aged inventory.

Ben Harang (39:48)
and the balanced bet investors is Lafourche. If you don't like the cyclical up and downs, Lafourche's numbers stay in a tighter range. It is a balanced market, moderate inventory tightening, and the broadest geography to work. So you can still get deals in Lafourche the further south you get.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (40:11)
All right, now we're gonna compare some city versus parish pricing dynamics. Two cities in Bayou Board coverage area tell different stories relative to the parishes they sit inside. So, Houma versus Terrebonne Parish, there's a modest city premium. Houma median sold is $212,000 versus Terrebonne Parish wide is 201,000.

So that's $10,000, almost $11,000 premium. And Houma's days on market is 62, where Terrebonne's days on market is 78. And same with, they have the same 97 and a half sold to list. Houma is slightly hotter than its parish, but the gap's narrow.

Ben Harang (41:03)
Okay, let's talk about Thibodaux versus Lafourche Parish. I sound like a broken record. There's a dramatic city premium. The Thibodaux median sold price is $251,000 versus Lafourche's parish-wide sales price of $201,000. Almost a $50,000 difference between

in the city or in the 70301 zip code versus the rest of Lafourche Parish. ⁓ Just city limits, okay, my bad. Thibodaux is an active seller's market at little over four months of inventory and Lafourche Parish is balanced.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (41:34)
That's just city limits.

Ben Harang (41:46)
at about five and three quarters of a month of inventory, a little less than six months. Six months is balance. So overall, Lafourche is trending on a buyer's market, but it's essentially balanced. Thibodaux closes in 43 days, which is phenomenal, but Lafourche Parish closes in 54, which is actually a very good number in 54 days.

For buyers, widening the search into the rest of Lafourche is a legitimate way to find more inventory and less competition. And for sellers in Thibodaux, don't benchmark against parish-wide comps. The city commands its own pricing. So...

When you're talking to an agent, make sure that the property is, if you're in the city, they're using comps in the city. If you're outside the city, use comps outside the city. And then again, the urban demand anchors, Nicholls State University, Thibodaux Regional Hospital, the Lafourche Crossing, Highway 308, LA-1 by Lafourche Corridor are doing.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (42:57)
Canal Boulevard.

Ben Harang (42:59)
Canal Boulevard, North Canal Boulevard, as long as they don't close the bridges, ⁓ doing the real pricing work here.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (43:03)
you

one of the four bayou board parishes is tightening year over year. The smallest decline is Lafourche at negative 12, a little bit over 12%. The largest is St. Mary at negative 34%. The unifying story is that inventory is being absorbed faster than it's being replaced across the entire footprint.

question for buyers is, I wait anymore? I'm sorry, it isn't, should I wait anymore? You know, it's like, I don't know about you, Ben, but it seems like I hear that a lot is, should I wait for the market to settle down? Should I wait for interest rates? Should I wait for this? Should I wait for that? The question is, which parish fits my budget, my timeline, and my goals?

waiting in any of these markets is likely to cost you.

Ben Harang (44:04)
And the longer you wait, the more you're to pay off somebody else's mortgage rather than starting to pay yours off. I know a 30 year mortgage is intimidating, but if you don't start that you're going to be paying rent for the rest of your life.

If you start now, you have 30 years on the mortgage. If you start in five years, you have five years plus 30 years. So now is as good a time as there ever was to get in the market. So board-wide seller takeaways, just some takeaways and to wind it up, Clint. The market has shifted in your favor compared to three months ago.

Sold to list ratios are improving, days on the market are dropping in every parish, and inventory is tightening across the board. But the homes priced aspirationally are sitting. I will add that to my repertoire. Aspirationally. I like that.

The homes pricing, the homes price realistically are selling. Price with the comps and not the list prices.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (45:16)
All right, buyer takeaways. Affordability is still strong at 143 housing affordability index. And you still have room to negotiate in most of the Bayou Board. 96, 97 % average sold to list. But the tightening is real and it's accelerating. Houma's days on market drop by a full month in 30 days.

Ben Harang (45:35)
Mm-hmm.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (45:42)
St. Mary's inventory is down almost 35 % year over year. Waiting is no longer a neutral option.

Ben Harang (45:51)
Right. And then a board-wide investor takeaway, close sales up 33 % year over year, pending sales are up 22 % year to date. This is the most active buy your board market in years. pack, well, since the free money at 3%, 2.75 % money in the COVID years, the parish level data.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (46:07)
at least a couple.

Ben Harang (46:19)
tells you exactly where to deploy based on your strategy. St. Mary for value, Terrebonne for appreciation, Thibodaux for stability, and Assumption for patient, deep discounts. Lafourche for balanced bets, Houma for the closing window on buyer leverage.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (46:40)
Alright, so whether you buy and sell or investing anywhere in the Bayou Board area, reach out for personalized neighborhood specific market analysis. Every parish tells a different story and the right strategy depends on the story you're reading. So with that said, we appreciate you listening and

want to remind you to check out our other episodes and market updates and what have you at re real estate podcast.com. And don't forget to like share, subscribe and comment, tell your mom and them. And you can find us wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube and Spotify and Apple podcasts and I heart radio and everywhere.

Ben Harang (47:29)
Speaking of YouTube, if you go to rerealestatepodcast.com, you can find all of the YouTube episodes with two guys with radio friendly faces sitting here just talking real estate in black and white for you.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (47:49)
And there you go. All right, Ben, that's another one in the can.

Ben Harang (47:53)
All right.

I think so. That's about it. Everybody have a great day. Thanks for joining us.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (48:00)
See you, Ben.

Ben Harang (48:02)
See you Clint.