As oil goes, so goes the rest of the Lafayette economy. As much as we don’t want this to be so — and as hard as we continue to work to reverse it — the hard truth is this still holds to this day. So when oil prices began to plummet from more than $100 per barrel in 2014 to as low as $26 in early 2016, taking tens of thousands of oil jobs out of the Lafayette Parish economy, it was a given that home sales would take a hit. And indeed they did, so much so that by the end of the year Nationwide’s Health of Housing Markets Report had Lafayette ranked in the bottom 10 of the country’s metropolitan statistical areas.

“Energy sector slowdowns continue to depress the housing outlooks in several MSAs in energy-intensive areas, especially in North Dakota, Wyoming, Texas, and Louisiana,” the fourth quarter report noted. “Stabilizing oil prices and employment readings, however, should soon improve the housing metrics in these regions.”

Things may be already looking up, however. One month does not in any way signal a turnaround, cautions Van Eaton & Romero President Bill Bacqué in his first report of the year, but optimism can be powerful medicine. Lafayette Parish’s January sales broke a record with 237 home sales — an increase of nearly 21 percent over January 2016’s 196 reported sales.

“For over 25 years, I have been compiling monthly housing data from the Realtor Association of Acadiana’s Multiple Listing Service and issuing this report,” Bacqué says in the opening line of his January 2017 Acadiana Residential Real Estate Report. “At the start of each new year, what I have always cautioned my agents was that there is a limited amount of conclusions one can draw about an area’s housing market with just one or two months of data. As such, my January report should not be construed as any solid indication as to where our local housing market is headed in 2017. With that being said, without a doubt, January was a sizzling and record breaking month for overall housing sales in Acadiana.”

That bit of good news came on the heels of a 4.3 percent decline in Lafayette Parish’s December sales compared with December 2015 and a cumulative 5 percent drop for the year, which tallied 3,146 sales compared with 3,311 in 2015. Of that, new construction home sales reported to the MLS fell 17.64 percent while sales of existing homes were up about 1.2 percent.

Less expensive homes fared pretty well, Bacqué points out. Purchases of Lafayette Parish homes priced below $150,000 rose 7 percent over 2015, with sales in this price range comprising 24 percent of the total homes bought in the parish. Mid-range homes bought and sold in 2016 declined by just under 8.5 percent, he says, and comprised 60 percent of the sold inventory, while sales in the upper end ($300,000 and above) declined by 8 percent — a price quadrant comprising 16 percent of the homes sold.

Considering the struggles of the oil industry, Lafayette should feel pretty good about its 2016 performance, according to Bacqué. “One needs to remember that the years 2012 to 2015 each set a record for the most houses reported sold. The fact that we saw a 5 percent drop off of that record level does not constitute any reason to panic,” he says.

Each year, ABiz looks back on the most expensive home sales, a segment that typically suffers most when the residential real estate market softens. It’s certainly not a good time to have a super expensive home with a “For Sale” sign out front. At the end of the year, there were about 50 homes priced at $800,000 to more than $1 million on the market in Lafayette Parish, with a 28-month supply of those from $800,000 to $900,000, a 40-month supply of homes from $900,000 to $1 million, and a 38-month supply of those priced above the million dollar mark.

[Editor’s Note: Information for the Most Expensive Home Sales of 2016 was obtained from a variety of sources, including the Realtor Association of Acadiana and public records at the Lafayette Parish courthouse and the Lafayette Parish Tax Assessor’s office. The parties in the No. 1 and No. 2 spots swapped homes.]

$3 MILLION

(estimated sales price of exchange)

ADDRESS: 106 Riverbriar Drive
SUBDIVISION: Greenbriar Estates
BEDROOMS/BATHS: 4 bedrooms/5 full baths
TOTAL SQUARE FOOTAGE: 6,905
PRICE PER SQUARE FOOT: N/A
YEAR BUILT: 2000
SELLER: Benton & Sonya Knobloch
BUYER: LCM TX 5 Star (Charlie Moncla)
LISTING AGENT: Private sale
SELLING AGENT: N/A
CLOSED: 1/15/2016

$3 MILLION

(estimated sales price of exchange)

ADDRESS: 1701 Bonin Road
SUBDIVISION: Fortune Estates
BEDROOMS/BATHS: 6 bedrooms/5 full baths, 2 half
TOTAL SQUARE FOOTAGE: 7,593
PRICE PER SQUARE FOOT: N/A
YEAR BUILT: 2004
SELLER: LCM TX 5 Star (Charlie Moncla)
BUYER: Benton and Sonya Knobloch
LISTING AGENT: Private sale
SELLING AGENT: N/A
CLOSED: 1/15/2016

$2.8 MILLION

ADDRESS: 211 Meridian Drive
SUBDIVISION: River Ranch
BEDROOMS/BATHS: 4 bedrooms/5 full baths
TOTAL SQUARE FOOTAGE: 7,807
PRICE PER SQUARE FOOT: $358.65
YEAR BUILT: 2010
SELLER: James D. Moncus
BUYER: Dwayne Hargroder
LISTING AGENT: Randy Lolley, The Lolley Group
SELLING AGENT: Victoria J. Hargroder, The Lolley Group
CLOSED: 12/05/2016

$2.25 MILLION

ADDRESS: 316 Steiner Road
SUBDIVISION: None
BEDROOMS/BATHS: 4 bedrooms/4 full baths, 1 half
TOTAL SQUARE FOOTAGE: 5,100
PRICE PER SQUARE FOOT: $441.18
YEAR BUILT: 11-15 years old
SELLER: Joey and Lynne Durel
BUYER: Clifford and Mary Schumacher
LISTING AGENT: Natalie D. Broussard, Keaty Real Estate Company
SELLING AGENT: Carolyn Groner, Keller Williams Realty Acadiana
CLOSED: 9/26/2016

$2 MILLION

ADDRESS: 906 Richland Ave.
SUBDIVISION: River Ranch
BEDROOMS/BATHS: 6 bedrooms/5.2 baths
TOTAL SQUARE FOOTAGE: 6,392
PRICE PER SQUARE FOOT: $312.89
YEAR BUILT: 2014
SELLER: Bailey and Chrystina Shivers
BUYER: William Mullen and Keri Copponex
LISTING AGENT: N/A
SELLING AGENT: N/A
CLOSED: 8/5/2016

$1.25 MILLION

ADDRESS: 201 Turtledove Trail
SUBDIVISION: Audubon Plantation
BEDROOMS/BATHS: 5 bedrooms/5 full baths
TOTAL SQUARE FOOTAGE: 5,401
PRICE PER SQUARE FOOT: $231.44
YEAR BUILT: 2014
SELLER: Brandon James Landry
BUYER: Corwin and Catherine Thomas
LISTING AGENT: Brandon Landry, RE/MAX Acadiana
SELLING AGENT: Candace Naquin, HUNCO Real Estate
CLOSED: 8/12/2016

$1.13 MILLION

ADDRESS: 101 Jean Baptiste Drive
SUBDIVISION: Vermilion Plantation
BEDROOMS/BATHS: 6 bedrooms/5 full baths
TOTAL SQUARE FOOTAGE: 6,648
PRICE PER SQUARE FOOT: $169.22
YEAR BUILT: 2002
SELLER: Patrick and Kendra Toomey
BUYER: Melissa Harrington and Joseph Lashley
LISTING AGENT: Melanie D. Lunn, Van Eaton & Romero/Patricia Powell,
Van Eaton & Romero
SELLING AGENT: Amelie Frey, Coldwell Banker Pelican Real Estate
CLOSED: 6/24/2016

$1.06 MILLION

ADDRESS: 515 Bourque Road
SUBDIVISION: None
BEDROOMS/BATHS: 5 bedrooms/4 full baths
TOTAL SQUARE FOOTAGE: 4,740
PRICE PER SQUARE FOOT: $223.63
YEAR BUILT: 2006
SELLER: David and Rene Mire
BUYER: James and Amber Dobbs
LISTING AGENT: Reba Crochet, Van Eaton & Romero/Brian Crochet,
Van Eaton & Romero
SELLING AGENT: Lindsey Fitzgerald, HUNCO Real Estate
CLOSED: 9/06/2016

$1.04 MILLION

ADDRESS: 202 Red Robin Trail
SUBDIVISION: Audubon Plantation
BEDROOMS/BATHS: 5 bedrooms/4 full baths, 2 half
TOTAL SQUARE FOOTAGE: 4,340
PRICE PER SQUARE FOOT: $239.64
YEAR BUILT: 2015 (Under Construction)
SELLER: Leonard Mitchell, LR Mitchell Construction & Development
BUYER: Marc and Susan Saad
LISTING AGENT: Matt Andrus, Dwight W. Andrus Real Estate
SELLING AGENT: Matt Andrus, Dwight W. Andrus Real Estate
CLOSED: 6/30/2016

$950,000

ADDRESS: 617 Piat Road
SUBDIVISION: None
BEDROOMS/BATHS: 4 bedrooms/3 full baths, 1 half
TOTAL SQUARE FOOTAGE: 3,434
PRICE PER SQUARE FOOT: $276.65
YEAR BUILT: 2005
SELLER: Charles Carlton
BUYER: Whispering Oaks Lodge LLC
LISTING AGENT: Sylvia McLain, Van Eaton & Romero
SELLING AGENT: Non-Member
CLOSED: 10/25/2016