Archive for the 'Louisiana' Category (Chronologically Listed)

Will Hot Louisiana Housing Market Chill Out?

For the past two years, the media has portrayed the housing market as bad and getting worse.

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Posted by Richard Barber on Aug 01 2007 under Louisiana





Louisiana Mortgage Problems Growing in Numbers

When some mortgage lenders opened the door to everyone wanting to get a slice of the American dream - that home with a neatly manicured lawn of their own - people stepped through.

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Posted by Richard Barber on May 14 2007 under Foreclosure, Louisiana





Permit Activity Down, But Improving in Shreveport

Single family residential permit valuations in Shreveport and Bossier City, La., combined were down 21.1 percent year-to-date through March, according to the Shreveport Times.

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Posted by Richard Barber on Apr 25 2007 under Louisiana





Louisiana Mortgage Activity, Home Sales Dragged Down By Subprime Woes

Subprime mortgage market woes are slowing New Orleans mortgage activity and area home sales, and experts say national and local economies could sour as federal agencies tighten lending restrictions.

“Real estate agents all over [the New Orleans housing market] are complaining about clients’ inability to get financing to buy homes,” said Brice Howard, Senior V.P. of commercial lending at Omni Bank.

“This is drastically affecting our real estate market.”

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Posted by Richard Barber on Apr 10 2007 under Louisiana





Shifting Louisiana Housing Market Excludes Many

It’s taken four years, but Sonya St. Julien has escaped the Lafayette, La., apartment market and bought a home within her means.

The 34-year-old reveled in the realization of her dream Friday morning, on a final walkthrough of her new home in Youngsville, La. At $170,000, it’s about $60,000 more than she targeted when she started the house hunt four years ago.

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Posted by Richard Barber on Apr 09 2007 under Louisiana





Real Estate Outlook Strong in Acadiana, Louisiana

Mary Jane Bauer, CEO of the Realtor Association of Acadiana, La., writes a bi-monthly column in The Daily Advertiser. Today, she tackles the topic of whether the local real estate market has gone bust.

That’s the rumor floating around. But is it true or false?

Definitely false. First, there’s a lot of debate about whether a housing bubble truly exists.

Low mortgage rates and an increasing population have brought on a high demand for real estate nationwide in the last 10 years.

So what is happening now to the market?

According to press, the demand for real estate has slowed significantly. It has slowed down in areas such as California, Florida, Las Vegas and the East Coast, but 2006 was still the third-best year on record according to the National Association of Realtors.

The “third-best year” isn’t the definition of a bubble bursting. This was after five consecutive record years for home sales.

But what about Acadiana home sales and prices? Where do we stand in the national statistics? According to David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, says the Gulf Coast housing market is predicted to remain robust and vital for the next 5-7 years.

Of course, that prediction is partially because of the significant amounts of money that will be used to help rebuild the region after hurricanes Rita and Katrina and because of the booming economy and continued low Louisiana mortgage rates.

The local Multiple Listing Service, owned by the Realtor Association of Acadiana, has the numbers to show that the housing market is strong in both Lafayette and Acadiana.

Comparisons to the New Orleans housing market are difficult. It has not slowed down; on the contrary, it has increased, and 2006 was an even better year than 2005, when there was a rush for housing after the devastating hurricanes.

The average home price reported in the multiple listing service (covering Acadia, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry and St. Mary parishes) was $179,255 for 2006, compared to $169,617 in 2005. In 2006, 3,611 homes were sold, compared to 3,408 in 2005.

The average days on market in 2006 was 69, compared to 75 in 2005. If you look at Lafayette Parish alone, the numbers were a little different, with the average home price in 2006 at $198,288, total homes sold at 2,637 and days on market at an average of 63. In comparison, the average price in 2005 was $183,483 with 2,535 homes sold and days on market at 69.

Contrary to what you hear on the national news about real estate bubbles and a sluggish market, Acadiana’s housing market is strong and does not show signs of slowing down significantly anytime soon. It may level out some, but it is predicted to remain vibrant and healthy.

In short, expect home loan demand to be strong in this region in 2007.

SOURCE: The Daily Advertiser




Posted by Richard Barber on Mar 19 2007 under Louisiana





Louisiana Foreclosure Rate Rises as Storm Rule Expires

Foreclosures on Louisiana homes jumped 35 percent during the third quarter of 2006 as lenders were able to move against hurricane victims who had not made mortgage payments since the 2005 storms.

At the end of the third quarter, there were 1,866 home loans in foreclosure, up from 1,381 at the end of the second quarter throughout Louisiana, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported last week.

Freddie Mac, an agency that provides mortgages to banks and other lenders, implemented blanket moratoriums on foreclosures in parishes affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Those moratoriums expired on August 31, so the third quarter was the first period in which storm-related foreclosures occurred.

Many foreclosure cases that began in 2005 but stalled because of the hurricanes also moved forward in the third quarter and were included in the figures.

“Even though there was an increase, it was still way below historic norms for similar periods,” said Jay Brinkmann, vice president of research and an economist for the Washington, D.C.-based bankers association.

Louisiana generally records about 2,600 new foreclosures each quarter, he said. Officials said the number of foreclosures tied to the 2005 storms is still small, even as the New Orleans housing market is still ravaged by Katrina’s after-effects.

Freddie Mac, which allowed 17,832 borrowers to delay the post-hurricane resumption of their mortgage payments by months, said fewer than 1 percent of those borrowers, or 132, have been foreclosed on, said agency spokesman Brad German.

Only 48 of those 132 are in the New Orleans area. The remainder of the delayed Louisiana mortgage payments are being worked out, have been made current or continue to be delayed.

Freddie Mac gave 35,000 area home owners extra time to make payments after the storms, said spokeswoman Chrissie McHenry. McHenry said she did not know of any foreclosures that had been initiated.

In a sign that many of those hurricane-affected borrowers are working their way through their financial obstacles, the number of people behind on their mortgage payments fell in the third quarter. The biggest decline involved second mortgages which were days or more past due, Brinkmann said.

Of the more than 424,000 total home loans statewide, 16,839 were more than three months past due at the end of the third quarter, down from 22,835 at the end of the second quarter.

Most of those loans, about 13,000, are in the disaster area.




Posted by Richard Barber on Jan 15 2007 under Foreclosure, Louisiana





Habitat for Humanity Aims for 1,000 New Homes Along Gulf Coast

Habitat for Humanity, the 16th largest home builder in the country, plans to have built 1,000 homes along the Gulf Coast by mid-summer 2007.

It’s just the latest in a series of Gulf Coast affordable housing initiatives.

In less than four months, two homes have been constructed on empty lots in Gautier and the Habitat construction crews have already started building three more homes in the area. On Saturday, Rebecca Borden and Becky Johnson became first-time homeowners as part of the Habitat for Humanity partnership program.



“These properties in Gautier were owned by another construction company and when they fell apart Habitat for Humanity bought all of them and we are building these homes from start to finish to make them a home for someone,” said Latan Griffin, president of the Jackson County Habitat for Humanity organization.

Becky Johnson, mother of six, and Rebecca Borden, mother of two, were both living with family members in Jackson County before this week and have never owned their own home.

“I have always lived with family or rented,” Johnson said. “This is very exciting for us.”

South Mississippi Habitat affiliates have seen a dramatic increase in construction efforts due to the $125 million in donations since the hurricane. Habitat for Humanity in South Mississippi has received a mandate stating that they must build 500 homes in Jackson and Harrison counties within a three-year period.

Individuals may need to apply for a bad credit mortgage loan in order to afford the housing - but at least it will be there.

After Katrina, Habitat launched Operation Home Delivery, a program to help displaced, low-income families in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The operation is a part of the organization’s long-term commitment to these areas.




Posted by Jed Moss on Nov 21 2006 under Louisiana, Mississippi





Local Broker Examines Future of New Orleans Housing Market

Arthur Sterbcow of Latter & Blum Realty discounts fears that New Orleans is entering an inventory surplus that could affect the overall economy, but he does express concern that the slump in homes valued over $400,000 signals a disturbing loss in medical professionals and entrepreneurs the devastated city desperately needs.

When asked if the New Orleans housing market had reached the point where there are more properties for sale than there is demand, Sterbcow said:

“It depends on where in the city. In some price ranges and in some areas, that’s probably true. But, it would be a glut of flooded homes that people just don’t have the resources to put back into commerce. But homes that are habitable in areas that have schools, have infrastructure. There’s really no glut of inventory to be seen there.”

“There is a softening of the market in the upper price ranges, homes over $400,000. That is certainly true. And, that’s pretty much a consequence of the medical industry leaving, and a lot of business owners who have relocated their businesses, we hope temporarily, until they can kind of get their homeowner’s insurance proceeds, and get their workers back. Things like that.”

Relocation in the metro away from Orleans Parish accounts from many of the permanent departures. A lot of people simply moved to other areas of the region to find affordable housing. Just the same, sales in St. Tammany are strong, as are Jefferson and West Bank. Every area of the city except those areas that had heavy flooding are seeing strong sales, and even in some of those areas, people are starting to come in and fix up their homes.

Sales, the Louisiana Weekly maintains, in homes worth under $400,000 remain brisk. Again, if it’s a piece of property that flooded, that’s a problem. But, if its a property that’s in move-in condition, in an area that has schools, shopping, infrastructure, that’s a very solid market right now.

Of Lakeview, which is both devastated but beside the functional markets and infrastructure of Metairie, it’s just starting to come back to the point in which home mortgage loan demand is creeping up again. There are a lot of properties that are in transition, in that they are being renovated. It just takes time to get them completed, Realtors say.

Sterbcow’s outlook for the next six months:

“Still, there’ll be a tremendous number of homes where there won’t [be] obviously, but right now we’re seeing a pretty good pickup in pace in home sales in the Lakeview area right now. Still, not what they were before the storms… but certainly miles ahead from what it was six months ago.”

The areas, like Lakeview or the Carrolton University area, that sit beside healthy neighborhoods, will be more than half recovered in the next year. Expansion into Gentilly from Mid-City and from the CBD into Carrolton and Broadmoor is also on the horizon. However, neighborhoods like New Orleans East could take years to recover.




Posted by Richard Barber on Nov 21 2006 under Louisiana





Three Affordable Housing Complexes to be Redeveloped in New Orleans

After a quick approval by its federally appointed chief Donald Barbers, the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) confirmed plans to demolish and redevelop the city’s three largest public housing complexes.

The three developments — C.J. Peete, St. Bernard and B.W. Cooper — will be reestablished as “mixed-income” communities, with a fourth, Lafitte, near Treme, already leased to non-profit developers who are planning a gigantic reconstruction of its area and the nearby neighborhood.

“These are critical times,” Barbers said. “This is a major move in the direction we’re going in for redevelopment of what we call the ‘big four.’ It is the future of HANO.”

The first three complexes, shuttered since Hurricane Katrina struck 14 months ago, reports New Orleans Times-Picayune writer Gwen Filosa, will include at least 1,285 units, with the proportions of market rate and subsidized affordable housing yet to be determined.

The fourth, taken over by non-profits, is to offer 1,500 units, including almost 900 for families on public assistance.

The Louisiana housing market has been in a state of flux ever since the arrival and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina last fall. Now state and local officials are setting out on a daunting task — rebuilding the areas of the state and establishing a housing market appealing enough for displaced residents to be able, and want, to return.

That means making housing affordable, forgiving past mortgage loan debt, and planning neighborhoods conducive to middle-income growth.

To launch its three big redevelopment projects, HANO needs $199 million in federal low-income housing tax credits, dependent on the plans’ review and approval by the Louisiana Housing Finance Authority.

So far, HANO has issued 5,185 disaster vouchers to families unable to make their exisiting home mortgage payments and needing housing subsidies, but only 2,185 have actually been used for occupancy.

New Orleans Legal Assistance Corp. attorney Laura Tuggle believes that HANO officials must do more to provide affordable housing for the poor.

“We only have about 1,000 families in public housing now,” she stressed. ”We’ve got 3,000 folks out there on the streets searching for housing.”







Posted by Richard Barber on Oct 24 2006 under Affordable Housing, Louisiana