The median tracked home value in New Orleans, LA rose 4.7% between August 1, 2026 and September 1, 2026 — the largest move, in either direction, across the 101 cities where RateZip tracks enough homes to publish.
The map of the move
The whole gain tail runs from +4.7% at the top to +2.5% at Boca Raton, FL. The other side of the ledger is quieter: the largest decline anywhere in the tracked set is Palm Bay, FL at −1.5%, and that tail is spread across 5 states rather than clustered in one.
What's behind it — in others' reporting
The move above is RateZip's own data. The context below is drawn from public reporting and data sources, each linked — read the originals; they are the authority on the why.
- NOMAR data for the first half of 2026 showed closed sales in the 10-parish New Orleans area up 6.6% from a year earlier, with Orleans Parish up over 6.3% and St. Tammany up 12.3%; realtors cited seller concessions and more affordable insurance options. (FOX 8 (WVUE), August 11, 2026)
- New census estimates show the seven-parish New Orleans metro lost about 2,500 residents last year to roughly 970,849, while Orleans Parish fell by about 1,300 to 362,154, its fifth straight annual decline; a local demographer tied the losses to job opportunities. (NOLA.com / The Times-Picayune)
- Louisiana Citizens, the state's insurer of last resort, still holds far more policies than before the 2020-2021 storms; despite moving 30,000 policies to private carriers, its policy count is down only about 13% from the 2023 peak and remains up over 200% since Hurricane Ida. (NOLA.com / The Times-Picayune, November 30, 2025)
- Insurance.com estimates average New Orleans homeowners insurance at about $6,083 a year for $300,000 in dwelling coverage with a $1,000 deductible, and roughly $4,696 for $200,000 in coverage. (Insurance.com, March 23, 2026)
- New Orleans has not accepted new commercial short-term rental applications since June 2023; new hosts are limited to the owner-occupied NSTR permit, capped at one per city square via a quarterly lottery, though an October 2025 federal ruling let LLCs hold permits. (BNBCalc, August 24, 2026)
The longer arc
The refresh-over-refresh move above is the short axis. The tracked set carries a long one too: every property's recorded purchase against its estimated value today. In New Orleans itself the longer arc is the sharper fact: among tracked homes last purchased in 2022 or later, the median home is now worth 5.1% more than its owners paid, and 40% of those homes are estimated below their purchase price. Across every city RateZip tracks, the same cohort — homes bought in 2022 or later — is worth 5.9% more than its owners paid at the median, with 30% estimated below purchase.
What borrowers are doing
Nationally, borrowers are already answering: refinance inquiries drew 2% of the mortgage inquiries consumers brought to RateZip's network over the three months through August 2026, versus 39% in the same months a year earlier — the full picture is on the Mortgage Demand Index.
The figures above are the median percent change in estimated home value across the properties RateZip tracks in each city, matched property-by-property between August 1, 2026 and September 1, 2026 — county-record and valuation data across the properties RateZip tracks; a city is ranked only with a sufficient tracked-property sample (30+ homes), and medians and percentages only are published. Full tables and methodology: Home Value Movers and our rate methodology. RateZip is a licensed mortgage broker (NMLS #1592292); this story describes what the data and the linked reporting show and is not advice about what any reader should do.