“The real-estate market has indeed suffered,” said Mona Martin Christen, owner and broker at Mona and Co., a Houma firm. She believes fears about the economy, real or imagined, led buyers to hang back.

“People (were) afraid to execute sales not knowing if their jobs were going to get cut,” she said.

While Houma’s unemployment remained far below double-digit national rates, it did rise from 3.7 percent in January to a high of 5.5 percent in August.

Tougher standards for buyers seeking a home mortgage also cut into the number of potential buyers, real estate agents said.

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