BATON ROUGE - Home buyers appear to be stymied by higher interest rates, and the Baton Rouge real estate market has gone from hot to cold along with the changing seasons.

That's according to the latest report from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors, which shows steep drops in the number of sales last month. New listings are also down, with fewer owners deciding to put properties in play, but because of the decrease in sales, the actual inventory of available houses is higher than in recent months.

Mortgage rates hit a two-decade high this past fall -- topping 7 percent -- but have edged down slightly in recent weeks. The Federal Reserve has hiked certain rates aggressively in 2022 in an attempt to cool inflation.

Despite the market slow-down, home prices are still increasing, with the median sales price just under $262,000.