Real Estate Recap: July 31, 2012

From the Baton Rouge Business Report, Real Estate Weekly:

By the numbers: The percentage of Baton Rouge homes in foreclosure fell to 2.36% in May, according to a report from CoreLogic, down from 2.39% from the month previous and 2.47% in May 2011. The local mortgage delinquency rate—that is, the percentage of home loans three months past due or more—also fell in May to 5.39%. That's down from 5.54% in April, and 5.59% a year ago. Daily Report has the full story here.

Game on: Pinnacle Entertainment plans to officially open the doors of its $368 million L'Auberge Casino & Hotel in Baton Rouge at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 29. Pinnacle says the grand opening will "feature memorable entertainment, dining experiences and an unveiling ceremony capped off with a stunning fireworks display." Details on entertainment specifics were not released but are expected as the opening date nears.

No finer place for sure: U.S.-based IT services firm Ameritas Technologies plans to open an "information technology center" in the Chase Tower South downtown. Ameritas says it will begin hiring in September, plans to open by October, and hopes to have 300 employees by 2016, with the jobs paying an average of $63,000 annually, plus benefits. The company was lured to Baton Rouge with an incentives package, the full details of which you can get from Daily Report here.

This week's poll question: If you built a new house, would you include energy-efficient and maintenance-free amenities?

Real Estate Recap: June 3, 2012

From the Baton Rouge Business Report, Real Estate Weekly:

Hammering away: With a 13% construction employment increase in May—an addition of 4,900 jobs since May of last year—the Capital Region was the 11th-best performing city among 337 U.S. metro areas tracked by the Associated General Contractors of America. Baton Rouge had a total of 43,600 people working in the construction industry as of May 31, according to the AGCA's latest jobs report. Read the full story from Daily Report and access the complete metro rankings here.

Inch by inch: Baton Rouge's foreclosure rate edged down 0.18 percentage points in April to 2.39%, compared to the rate in April 2011, according to a new report from CoreLogic. That's a scant 0.02 percentage points down from the March rate. Still, Baton Rouge's foreclosure rate remains well below the 3.41% national average and is also lower than Louisiana's rate of 2.49% in April, which represents a decrease of 0.11 percentage points from a year ago. Get the full story from Daily Report and access a map of foreclosures by ZIP code in the Capital Region here.

Second chance: Even if you weren't able to make the Center for Community Progress' 2012 Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference: Remaking America for the 21st Century, which recently wrapped up in New Orleans, you can check out most of the training seminars and presentations online. Topics range from urban blight to vacant and abandoned property and productive reuse. Check out available presentations here (click on the speaker's name below the presentation for a PDF download).

This week's poll question: When purchasing new appliances, lights and other electrical items for your home, do you generally choose a more energy-efficient product even if it means a higher price?