Analytics built by: Location, Inc.
Raw data sources: American Community Survey (U.S. Census Bureau), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Methodology: NeighborhoodScout uses over 600 characteristics to build a neighborhood profile… Read more about Scout's Real Estate Data
With a population of 121,389, 51,472 total housing units (homes and apartments), and a median house value of $290,743, Lafayette real estate is some of the most expensive in Louisiana, although Lafayette home values aren't among America's most expensive.
Single-family detached homes are the single most common housing type in Lafayette, accounting for 65.39% of the city's housing units. Other types of housing that are prevalent in Lafayette include large apartment complexes or high rise apartments ( 23.04%), duplexes, homes converted to apartments or other small apartment buildings ( 6.41%), and a few row houses and other attached homes ( 2.94%).
The most prevalent building size and type in Lafayette are three and four bedroom dwellings, chiefly found in single-family detached homes. The city has a mixture of owners and renters, with 54.36% owning and 45.64% renting.
There is a lot of housing in Lafayette built from 1970 to 1999 so parts of town may have that "Brady Bunch" look of homes popular in the '70s and early '80s, although some of these houses were built up through the early '90s as well. There is also a lot of housing in Lafayette built between 1940-1969 ( 24.55%). A lesser amount of the housing stock also hails from between 2000 and later ( 22.04%). There's also some housing in Lafayette built before 1939 ( 2.13%).
Vacant housing appears to be an issue in Lafayette. Fully 11.48% of the housing stock is classified as vacant. Left unchecked, vacant Lafayette homes and apartments can be a drag on the real estate market, holding Lafayette real estate prices below levels they could achieve if vacant housing was absorbed into the market and became occupied. Housing vacancy rates are a useful measure to consider, along with other things, if you are a home buyer or a real estate investor.
Some of the lowest real estate appreciation rates in America over the last ten years have been in Lafayette, where house values have increased just 39.50%, which is annualized rate of 3.38%. This rate is lower than the appreciation rate found in 90% of the cities and towns in America.
NeighborhoodScout's data show that during the latest twelve months, Lafayette's appreciation rate, at 5.57%, has been at or slightly above the national average. In the latest quarter, Lafayette's appreciation rate has been 5.09%, which annualizes to a rate of 21.96%.
Importantly, NeighborhoodScout’s exclusive research found that Lafayette's housing market shows one of the <a href="/blog/highest-appreciating-cities">top real estate appreciation rates in the U.S.A.</a> in the latest quarter, which may signal the city’s near-future real estate investment strength.
Relative to Louisiana, our data show that Lafayette's latest annual appreciation rate is higher than 80% of the other cities and towns in Louisiana.
One very important thing to keep in mind is that these are average appreciation rates for the city. Individual neighborhoods within Lafayette differ in their investment potential, sometimes by a great deal. Fortunately, you can use NeighborhoodScout to pinpoint the exact neighborhoods in Lafayette - or in any city or town - that have the best track record of real estate appreciation, by the latest quarter, the last year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, or even since 2000, to assist you in making the best Lafayette real estate investment or home purchase decisions.
$290,743
for Louisiana
for nation
51,472
$1,368 / per month