East Feliciana Parish

East Feliciana Parish sits at a median home price of $221,853 with home values down 0.54% year-over-year. The data provided does not include a median rent figure or rent-to-price ratio for the parish itself, which means cap rate and cash-on-cash return are both listed as zero in the underwrite, and any cash-flow projection here would be fabricated. What the data does confirm: an affordability index of 82, an overall investment score of 59 out of 100 (49th percentile nationally, 28th out of 64 Louisiana parishes), and an appreciation score of just 47. That combination, entry-level pricing alongside flat-to-declining values and no documented cash flow, places this parish squarely in neither the cash-flow nor the appreciation column. It is a market that requires significant local rent research before a buy decision can be responsibly underwritten.

Given those constraints, the investor profile this market might theoretically serve is a value-add operator or a deeply local buyer who already knows rent comps from street-level experience. The affordability index of 82 means the median home is within reach at a $221,853 purchase price, and the -0.54% price decline suggests there may be motivated sellers. But an appreciation score of 47 and a stability score of 50 offer no structural tailwind for either a buy-and-hold appreciation play or a set-it-and-forget-it cash-flow strategy. A speculative value-add buyer who can source off-market product, renovate to raise rents, and eventually refinance into a known cash flow has the clearest rationale, but that thesis depends entirely on rent data this analysis cannot supply.

No economic anchors were provided for East Feliciana Parish, so no employer-level commentary is warranted. What the population figure does signal is meaningful: at 19,452 residents, this is a small, rural parish. Small population markets carry concentration risk by definition. A single large employer exit, a demographic outflow, or a persistent housing supply overhang can move the local market materially. Investors accustomed to metro liquidity should model longer hold periods and wider vacancy assumptions than they might use in a parish like East Baton Rouge.

On carry costs, the tax and insurance picture is a genuine tailwind. Louisiana's state-average effective property tax rate is 0.55%, flagged as low, and the insurance rate adds another 0.66% annually. Together they produce a combined monthly tax-and-insurance burden of $224 on a $221,853 asset. That is real money left in the deal compared to high-tax states, and it matters when every cash-flow dollar counts in a thin-margin rural market. The low-tax designation is worth noting on your underwrite as a line-item advantage. The standard caveat applies: this is a state-average effective rate sourced from Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual East Feliciana Parish rates at the township or municipal level may differ, so confirm the specific millage before closing.

The primary risk here is a single, compounding one: a small population of 19,452, no visible economic anchor data, declining home prices, and missing rent comps create a picture where due diligence is harder than in larger markets, and the consequences of a bad underwrite are larger. Rental demand in a parish this size can be thin, and an investor holding a vacant property with a $224 monthly tax-and-insurance carry on top of debt service will feel that quickly. The data does not support a vacancy rate claim, but the market size alone warrants conservative vacancy assumptions, likely 10% or higher until local data proves otherwise.

Compared to the neighbors in the dataset, East Feliciana's position is nuanced. East Baton Rouge Parish, at $227,648 median with a documented 0.068 gross rent-to-price ratio and a $1,297 median rent, offers comparable entry pricing with actual cash-flow visibility and the liquidity of a major metro. Ouachita Parish at $172,866 and a 0.070 rent-to-price ratio gives a lower entry point with better-documented yield. Terrebonne Parish is the most interesting comparison: $173,690 median and a 0.086 rent-to-price ratio is the highest gross yield among the neighbors shown, suggesting meaningfully better cash-flow potential at a lower price. West Carroll Parish at $120,525 is the cheapest entry in the group, though no rent data is provided there either. East Feliciana's edge over its neighbors is not price, yield, or size. The case for choosing it over an East Baton Rouge or Terrebonne investment would have to rest on hyper-local knowledge, a specific property with a known tenant, or a value-add opportunity that neighboring markets do not offer at equivalent pricing.