BATON ROUGE - Buying a home is becoming harder for many families, and recent data shows some buyers are choosing to build new instead of purchasing existing homes.

Housing experts say that in some cases, building a brand-new home can actually cost less than buying an existing one. New developments are going up across the area, while many existing homes continue to sit on the market.

Brandy Boudreaux, a loan officer with GMFS Mortgage, told WBRZ that interest rates are volatile.

"We're seeing that across the board. For a traditional 30-year conventional fix, we're looking into the mid to upper 6 percent range currently," Boudreaux said.

Because of those inconsistent rates, buyers can expect to see rates stay in that range for a while. 

"As long as we've got instability in the market, we're probably not going to see a big drop. As long as we've got the war happening, we've got other things happening, the oil, there's just a lot happening that's kind of making people nervous."

According to the National Association of Homebuilders, about 63 percent of households in East Baton Rouge Parish and surrounding areas cannot qualify for the average mortgage payment, and the average homeowner needs around $95,000 to get into a typical home. The average home price in Louisiana is currently listed just above $310,000. Experts say even small price increases can push more families out of the market.

"We've got a lot of things working against us. With oil prices up, it's more expensive to get the goods in that go into the house. We're seeing the tariffs had an impact and some of that was kind of a delayed response because they already had inventory sitting there," Profita said.

Higher material costs, tariffs and inflation continue to drive up the price of building homes, costs that builders often pass along to buyers. Despite those challenges, experts say buyers should explore their options now rather than waiting for interest rates to drop to two or three percent.

"So you go ahead, and you find that house, start building that equity, start putting your money into that, and then if rates change, you can always go back and refinance," she said.

Some residents are also taking out loans to remodel their homes as a cheaper alternative to buying a brand new home.

On Wednesday, Congress passed a bipartisan bill to address housing affordability.