KELLY SAYS QB NUSSMEIER DEALING WITH TORSO INJURY 1C
N O L A.C O M
|
T u e s d ay, s e p T e m b e r 16, 2025
$2.00X
“We’ve seen rates fall since early August and since then, prices are up slightly and our showings are up. Even a tiny change in the interest rate can make a difference.” DEBBIE LEWIS, associate broker with Burk Brokerage Real Estate
N.O. housing market remains sluggish
ELECTION 2025
Mayoral candidates raise $1M Duplessis tops latest reports while Moreno has most in bank
BY BEN MYERS Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
Since mid-2022, when a sharp rise in interest rates coincided with surging costs for insurance after Hurricane Ida, the residential real estate market in the New Orleans metro area has been in a slump.
Potential interest rate cut could spur improvement BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL
Staff writer
When Scott Brannon listed a client’s Gentilly home in late April, he thought he was pricing it to sell, asking $245,000 for the three-bedroom home. But after more than four months and a $10,000 price cut, the house is still on the market. On Monday, the veteran real estate broker was scheduled to meet with his client to suggest another price “adjustment.” “When you have a lot of inventory on the market, and we do, it’s
tough,” said Brannon, an associate broker with Compass. “So, you have to adjust the prices and realize some properties are going to take longer to sell.” Since mid-2022, when a sharp rise in interest rates coincided with surging costs for insurance after Hurricane Ida, the residential real estate market in the New Orleans metro area has been in a slump. Fewer homes are changing hands and those that are listed are taking longer to sell. Home prices across the nine-parish metro region haven’t budged in three years (and have fall-
en when accounting for inflation), even as prices in many other cities in the South have surged. Still, brokers are hopeful that at least one weight on the market is set to lift. The Federal Reserve is expected to lower interest rates Tuesday for the first time in nine months, and while it may not have an overnight impact on the cost of borrowing for a home, many real estate watchers say it should eventually spur activity in a local market that needs a jolt.
ä See HOUSING, page 7A
New Orleans’ top mayoral candidates have raised more than $1 million, according to reports released a month before the October primary that show Royce Duplessis raising money at the fastest clip and Helena Moreno still with more cash to spend than her opponents. Duplessis, a state Democratic senator, raised close to $585,000 between July 4 and Sept. 1, more than any other citywide candidate according to reports re- Duplessis leased Friday. He had more than $590,000 in his account at the beginning of this month. Moreno, the City Council’s vice president, ä U.S. raised more than Rep. Carter $470,000 during the same time peendorses riod, and her cam- Moreno Moreno. paign had more PAGE 1B than $1.4 million available. District E council member Oliver Thomas, meanwhile, raised more than $115,000 and ended the period with more than $316,000. Duplessis’ campaign said in a statement the recent surge in Thomas contributions “is another sign that the people of our city are ready for change.” “It demonstrates not only Sen. Duplessis’ commanding fundraising strength, but also the growing momentum of a people-powered campaign that is uniting New Orleanians,” the statement said. Moreno’s campaign manager called attention to the individual, small donations the at-large council member amassed, saying they were proof that she has gained support for residents of all incomes. Of her 441 contributors, 269, or 60%,
ä See MAYORAL, page 7A
Ransomware group claims Sheriff’s Office attack Orleans Parish agency was breached Sept. 4
BY JOSEPH CRANNEY Staff writer
A ransomware group known for hundreds of breaches, including attempts to extort governments for money, has claimed responsibility for the early September cyberattack at the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office. The Qilin group in a dark web post Saturday said it was behind the Sept. 4 attack, according to a screenshot viewed by a reporter. The post didn’t say how much or what kind of information the group managed to hack from the 800-person agency, and neither has
ä See ATTACK, page 5A
WEATHER HIGH 92 LOW 73 PAGE 6B
La. eyes share of $50B fund for rural health Financial future of small-town hospitals in state hinges on program
BY EMILY WOODRUFF Staff writer
The White House announced Monday that applications are open for the new Rural Health Transformation Fund, a $50 billion initiative over five years that federal officials said will “make rural America healthy again.” The money comes as Medicaid, a lifeline for rural hospitals, faces deep cuts under the same law that STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD created the fund. Louisiana has around 50 rural hospitals whose fiNurse Scarlett Breckwoldt checks on Tim Cowell as he nancial health hinges on securing receives IV treatment at Hood Memorial Hospital in Amite on a share of it. June 26. Rural hospitals like Hood are walking a financial States now face a tight deadline: tightrope to stay afloat amid deep cuts to Medicaid. applications are due in early No-
Business ......................6A Commentary ................5B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................4B Comics-Puzzles .....3D-6D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
vember, leaving only a few weeks to design detailed proposals. Federal officials will have less than two months to review and distribute the money before the end of the year. Louisiana has a large number of small-town hospitals walking a financial tightrope to stay afloat. Democratic senators flagged 33 hospitals in the state as at risk of closure in a letter earlier this year, the highest number in any state after Kentucky. The fund was created in response to a backlash over Medicaid cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill signed into law in July. About 1 in 3 people in Louisiana uses Medicaid, one of the highest rates in the nation. Louisiana is the only state in the Deep South that expanded Medicaid, meaning a larger share of its population depends on it, and rural providers tend to see
ä See RURAL, page 7A
13TH yEAR, NO. 35