Pointe Coupee Parish

Pointe Coupee Parish sits at a median home price of $192,809 with year-over-year appreciation of 2.2%, placing it squarely in the appreciation-oriented segment of the Louisiana market rather than a cash-flow engine. The cash flow score registers at 0, which tells you the rent-to-price math isn't generating meaningful spreads at current financing rates of 6.85%. The appreciation score of 72 and an affordability index of 89 suggest the parish is relatively accessible to buy into, but renters aren't paying enough above carrying costs to produce positive cash flow in a standard leveraged scenario. At the national level, the parish ranks 149th out of 1,000 counties analyzed, landing in the 81st percentile overall, and 4th out of 64 Louisiana parishes, which reflects a genuine relative position rather than an outlier niche play.

The investor profile that fits here is a long-horizon appreciation buyer willing to accept thin or neutral cash flow in exchange for price stability in an affordable market. With a median price under $193,000, entry cost is low enough that a 20% down payment runs just over $38,500, limiting capital at risk. But the cash-on-cash return of 0 means you are not getting paid to wait. A value-add operator who can manufacture rent premium through renovation may find more room here than a passive income buyer running market-rate rents through a turnkey property. Pure cash-flow buyers should look elsewhere unless they are buying significantly below the $192,809 median and can close the rent gap that way.

The carry cost picture has one genuine tailwind worth underwriting correctly. Louisiana's state-average effective property tax rate is 0.55%, flagged as low, which translates to roughly $1,060 annually on a property at the median price. Combined with an insurance rate of 0.66%, annual insurance runs approximately $1,273. Together, that's about $194 per month in tax and insurance, a combined carry burden that is meaningfully lower than what you'd pay in high-tax states on a similarly priced asset. The low property tax rate is a real advantage on the expense side of your pro forma. That said, the 0.55% figure is a state-average estimate per Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual Pointe Coupee Parish rates may differ, so pull the parish assessor's numbers before finalizing your model. On the insurance side, Louisiana's coastal and flood exposure means the 0.66% rate is worth scrutinizing closely, particularly whether it reflects wind and flood riders or excludes them.

The population of 20,652 is the most material risk factor the data supports discussing. A small, rural parish of this size has shallow tenant demand by definition. If a major local employer contracts or relocates, vacancy pressure can move fast and the pool of replacement tenants is limited. Concentration risk in a market this size is structural, not cyclical. The stability score of 50 reflects that, landing at the midpoint rather than signaling a resilient, diversified economy. No economic anchor data was provided, so the specific demand drivers underpinning rental absorption cannot be quantified here, but any investor underwriting this market should independently verify what is actually employing residents before committing.

Compared to the neighboring parishes in the dataset, Pointe Coupee is not the cash-flow choice. Iberia Parish stands out with a rent-to-price ratio of 10.63% on a median price of $134,124, the kind of gross yield that gives a leveraged investor real room to operate. Livingston Parish shows a rent-to-price ratio of 7.78% at a median of $246,195, which pairs higher rents with higher entry cost but still produces a more workable cash-flow profile. Jefferson Parish at 7.11% and Calcasieu Parish at 6.59% also both show rent ratios above what Pointe Coupee's 0 cash flow score implies is achievable locally. Where Pointe Coupee makes a case for itself is the combination of affordability, low property tax carry cost, and a top-4 state ranking that reflects relative price stability and appreciation trajectory. Choose this parish over its neighbors when your thesis is capital preservation with modest appreciation in an accessible price band, not when your model depends on rent coverage to service debt.