Rental Housing Market Still Recovering in New Orleans

A new report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development finds that the median price of rental housing in New Orleans has risen from $662 in 2004 to $882 today.

1 minute read

September 21, 2010, 7:00 AM PDT

By Nate Berg


"The HUD report attributes this rise in price to a loss in 'mid-priced' rental units. According to the Times-Picayune, it was not uncommon for families to pay about $300 a month for an apartment before Katrina, but now, 'That's long gone'. If one doesn't think very hard, it seems bizarre that rents should go up in a still disaster-ravaged city-the report estimates there are 72,500 vacant housing units in New Orleans. But this blight translates into scarcity, and scarcity into demand. According to the report, the number of mid-priced rental units in the city went from 66,300 in 2004 all the way down to 19,300 in 2009-less than one-third its previous level. The rental market, among other things, was decimated by the storm."

The report finds that owner-occupied housing has fared better, as has public housing and subsidized housing in maintaining affordable values.

Monday, September 20, 2010 in Next American City

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