SHREVEPORT – If Caddo Parish were to trumpet one advantage in an attempt to spur population growth, affordable housing should be the tune screeching out to the world.
That’s what Douglas White, the director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at LSUS, said during Tuesday’s Economic Outlook 2024 summit.
White was one of three expert panelists to join Shreveport-Bossier Advocate business editor Liz Swaine for an hour-long discussion about Northwest Louisiana’s economy.
The other two panelists were Brenda Clark Guess (assistant secretary of Louisiana Economic Development) and Justyn Dixon (president of North Louisiana Economic Partnership). To watch the entire discussion, visit the Shreveport-Bossier Advocate’s YouTube channel.
The median listing price for a home in Caddo Parish is regularly below $200,000, creeping above that mark in the second half of 2023 to rest at $205,900 this past December, according to data compiled by the CBER, which White heads.
Across the Red River, Bossier Parish median home listing prices climbed north of $300,000 for most of 2023, sitting at $300,000 on the dot this past December.
Home prices nationally eclipsed $400,000 ($402K) at the end of 2023, according to Redfin Monthly Housing Data.
Louisiana ranked as the fifth most-affordable state with a median listing price of $255,000 in a September Redfin report.
And with mortgage rates starting above 6.6 percent on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, home price is more important than ever when searching for affordable housing.
“We have an abundance of relatively affordable housing,” White said on the panel. “If you want to own your home, this is a great place to be because it’s an affordable place to live.
“There are still people who are working remotely with the ability to relocate, and this area has relatively good internet connectivity with an airport that has reasonable prices.”
Caddo Parish has steadily lost population, estimated at 229,025 in July of 2022 after having nearly 238,000 in the 2020 Census and nearly 255,000 in 2010.
White spearheads the effort to collect various economic data on the region, which is updated monthly and aggregated into quarterly Northwest Louisiana Economic Dashboard reports on the center’s website.
Data includes tax collection, building permits, unemployment rates, casino revenue, airport traffic, and mortgage and inflation rates among other items.
This information is shared with the regional business community, local governments and the population at large to better inform decision-making.
Since the title of the panel was “Economic Outlook 2024”, White offered his outlook for the area.
“Challenging,” White said. “I don’t think we’ll see the economy booming, but I don’t know whether it will slow down or just stay the way it is.
“I felt like before COVID-19 hit, Shreveport-Bossier was on an upward trajectory, and the (pandemic) slammed on those brakes. I hope that this is the last year that we fight the (COVID-19) hangover, and then start to see a real turnaround and expansion (in 2025).”
White pointed to commercial real estate dips nationally along with high interest rates as potential stumbling blocks if those areas negatively impact banking on a large scale.
“What keeps me up at night is that a commercial real estate crash could cause a banking crisis, which would cause issues throughout the country,” White said.
