Find out about the latest news in Madisonville, Louisiana as well as St. Tammany Parish. We will keep you “tuned in” to all of the information about Southeast Louisiana as well as the real estate industry in general. Many new home buyers are concerned about the market, mortgage information, and builder trends. We plan on keeping you as up to date as possible on these and many more topics. There is a lot going on in the Greater New Orleans area, so you will have plenty to read!

A Strong Housing Market Affects Growth in St. Tammany Parish

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St. Tammany Parish is seeing the benefits and struggles of growth as it relates to the strong housing market.  It is projected that the parish population will increase from the current 250,000 to approximately 460,000 by the year 2030. Many fear the growth will lead to a look of “Anywhere U.S.A.” with separate commercial and residential developments.

Not only do experts fear it will lead to a non-aesthetically pleasing look, but it will also lead to horrible traffic problems. St. Tammany is more susceptible to this problem because everyone living in the parish has to drive 4-206 W. Longview Court Wall of Windowseverywhere they want to go. The national average of trips made by people alone in a vehicle is 70% but in St. Tammany, it is 82%.  With the growth and sprawling suburban expansion comes more roads being built, which will only increase the number and length of St. Tammany residents’ trips.

St. Tammany parish government and a company called Greater New Orleans Inc. are working towards a solution to struggles with a growing population.  They sponsored a panel of experts from the Urban Land Institute (ULI), housed in Washington D.C., to study the parish as it relates to future development, land-use strategies and hardiness to flooding and hurricanes.  According to panel Chairman Jim Heid, “the object was to provide objective and unbiased views on land use challenges.”

In a meeting held at the parish government complex north of Mandeville, the concept of a “village in the woods” was most favorable.  This concept brings the residential and commercial land use together through a pedestrian friendly development that focuses on using the natural environment. This will give residents the choices of walking, bicyclingGinger or carpooling to destinations.

The panel recommended the development could potentially be located in the area between Interstate 12 and Louisiana 36 north of Lacombe, including Louisiana 1088 and 454. Fortunately the parish already has several areas to look upon as role models for this “village in the woods” concept. TerraBella located off Bootlegger Road in Covington, the planned development Tamanend, off of Louisiana 434 and downtown Covington already project this concept with their mixed-use development including apartments, single family houses, shops and other businesses.

Stakeholders are supportive of this concept and according to Alan Razak, a member of the panel, “strong political will and some risk taking” will be the only way this vision will come to fruition.  Parish Planning Director Sidney Fontenot sees potential in other areas such as land north of Lacombe where the Northshore Technical Community College project is beginning and the Goodbee area located west of Covington.

To sum it up, the panel recommends that parish leaders update St. Tammany Parish’s comprehensive plan for the future by adding to the land with mixed-use developments. Fontenot states, “I think the next step is at what level do we go from allowing it, encouraging it to mandating it. That’s a major policy discussion for the elected officials in concert with input from the citizens.”

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Home Buyers to Consider Healthcare When Buying in St. Tammany Parish

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When choosing where to build a new home, build a custom home, or buy a new home, home buyers will want to carefully consider the region and area that they are moving into.  Many considerations come into play which include population, crime, age range, the commute, suburban sprawl, traffic, schools, and medical facilities.  When deciding in which neighborhood you would like to live, you definitely want to think about the quality of medical care that you and your family will have access to should a health emergency affect your lives.  Bedico Creek Preserve is located in the heart of West St. Tammany Parish which is the home to 2 major hospitals, several specialized hospitals including 2 heart hospitals, and multiple specialty clinics from which to choose your healthcare.

One of the major hospitals is Lakeview Regional Medical Center which is located approximately 10 miles from Bedico Creek in Mandeville.  This hospital was recognized as a ‘Top Performer’ on Key Quality Measures® by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of health care organizations in the United States.

Lakeview Regional Medical CenterThe excellence achieved by this hospital included sustaining escellence in accountability measure performance for heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care, stroke, and perinatal care.  Lakeview Regional Medical Center was one of 1,043 hospitals to receive this award nationwide with a total of 3,300 eligible hospitals considered.  This is not the first time that Lakeview has been recognized for this award.  For the past five years straight, the hospital has been one of only 43 eligible hospitals to maintain this high level of service and excellence.

Three criteria are considered in awarding this prestigious honor:

Achieving cumulative performance of 95 percent or above across all reported accountability measures;
Achieving performance of 95 percent or above on each and every reported accountability measure where there were at least 30 denominator cases; and
Having at least one core measure set that had a composite rate of 95 percent or above, and (within that measure set) all applicable individual accountability measures had a performance rate of 95 percent or above.

“We are proud to be acknowledged among an elite group of like-minded facilities,” Bret Kolman, Lakeview Regional Chief Executive Officer, said. “This recognition highlights the dedication of our physicians and staff to provide the safest and most effective health care standards to each of our patients.”

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Three Rivers Art Festival Huge Success in St. Tammany

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After narrowing down the field of prospective participating artists for the Three Rivers Art Festival from 400 to 200, 3 judges spent countless hours evaluating and viewing with unbiased eye the artwork of these 200 talented artists that were part of the festival on November 14th and 15th.  Judges were Cindy Pulling, executive director of the St. Tammany Art Association, STAA board member Jessica Danby, and STAA Advisory Council member Sarah Sparkman-Boyd.

“The goal is that all the artists feel heard and seen,” said Peggy Schoen Des Jardins, the festival’s coordinator for jurying and judging.

The first day of the Three Rivers Art Festival was spent visiting each artist to go over the presentation of their booth Three Rivers Art Festivalsetup and then to judge their artwork for its creativity, craftsmanship, and concept, and how the artist “tied it all together.”  The 2nd day of the festival, the judges were tied up themselves using a computer program to assign a score to each artist.  Artists were scored on a scale of 1 to 10 for multiple categories.

Winners included artists from all genres from jewelry making, to sculpting, to metalwork, to painting.  There were 5 main awards including the Best of Show and City of Covington Awards.  The Best of Show Award went to Susan Elnora of Minneapolis, MN, who presented her jewelry and metalsmith skills.  The City of Covington Award went to Katie Burckel, a sculptor who constructs sculptures using different items that have been discarded or donated to thrift stores.  Ethan Lillemoe of Norcross, Ga., won the Three Rivers Award for his unique sculpture. Jessica Stoddart Ladd of Cookeville, Tenn., garnered the St. Tammany Award for her colorful paintings in distinct stainless steel frames, and James Bird won the Bogue Falaya Award for his colorful photography.

In addition to the main awards, there were 15 Awards of Distinction given out during the Three Rivers Art Festival. Artwork from students from the Center of Performing Arts were also displayed – approximately 400 pieces, and the St. Tammany Art Association’s gallery exhibitions as well as local galleries were also available for visitors to peruse.  For more information on the Three Rivers Art Festival, visit www.threeriversartfestival.com.

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Consumer Credit Expands – Lending Standards Tighten

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For the economy, surprising, debt can be a good thing.  Surveys show that consumer credit expanded and lending standards tightened in the 3rd quarter of 2015.  Whether it is a construction or land loan, an auto loan, a student loan, a mortgage, or even credit card debt, the expansion of credit overall shows that the economy is on an upward trend for consumer and business credit.  Consumer credit grew 8.5% and 7.5% in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2015.  What accounted for most of this debt was non-revolving credit such as mortgages, auto loans, and student loans.  This non-revolving credit rose 7.9% in the 3rd quarter.  Revolving consumer credit also grew by 6.5%, and credit limits have been on the rise for all of 2015.  Total credit limits have increased by 5.1% since the 1st quarter of 2014.

On the flip side, credit requirements have continued to be challenging for builders and developers alike while banks are constantly adhering to new lending standards issued by the federal government including the latest release of the Closing Disclosure which has now replaced the traditional HUD-1 Settlement Statement typically used in all real estate closings.

Lending restrictions by the 20 largest documented banks have actually eased more than credit restrictions of smaller banks.  This would be excellent news except that the large banks do not hold a big majority of real estate loans – only 33% over the last 7 years.  The senior loan officers of other banks that do hold the majority of land loans, loans, and construction loans were surveyed to find out if lending had eased on these types of loans.  6.7% of loan officers said that restrictions had tightened compared to 2.7% of loan officers at the larger banks.  According to the survey, overall 4.4% of loan officers surveyed said that lending standards had tightened.  However, there was a big discrepancy between the answers of those surveyed, and the conflicting answers showed that many senior loan officers felt that standards had actually eased during the third quarter of 2015.  Regardless, lot sales and construction loans have increased over the past 3 years, and builders and developers are now having a hard time with finding sub-contractors to build their houses – a good problem to have!

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Student Debt Is Not an Obstacle to Homeownership

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According to a study done by Zillow.com, the only way student debt can negatively impact young professionals interested in starting a family and “settling down” to buy their first home is if that debt is combined with no degree at all.  According to the study, student debt is not an obstacle to homeownership with those students who finished with a bachelor’s degree or higher for the amount of debt they acquired.  Home buyers that are college graduates and never had to take on student loans have a higher chance (70%) of becoming a homeowner than home buyers that have student debt and at least a bachelor’s college degree, but not by much – the statistic only drops to 66% for these types of buyers.

Young professional first time buyers find student debt is not an obstacle of homeownership because a bachelors degree can mean a great job.Because of the Recession and the lack of jobs for college graduates upon completing college, many young people did not get married and start a family right away, so household formation was also a considering factor in the study done by Zillow.com.  The study seemed to indicate that people were waiting until their 30’s to have children, and the study included those couples that had actually started a family with at least one child.

High rents were also a factor as being a deterrent for young professionals to be able to buy a home.  The payment of higher rent made it impossible for them to get the larger down payment together upon trying to get financing for a conventional mortgage.  The FHA just recently reduced the percentage of down payment required for both FHA and Rural Development loans, so this factor will not be as pertinent moving forward.

The truth about young professionals becoming homeowners is that student debt is not an obstacle to homeownership, and the possession of a bachelor’s degree or higher and the acquisition of a good job after college has made it possible for these students to be able to buy a new or pre-existing home upon graduation (or later).  This is good news for the housing market as one more positive sign that the real estate market is moving in the upwards direction.

 

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Newly built home sales in the Greater New Orleans increased significantly in July, 2015.

Newly Built Home Sales Rise 25.8% Year-Over-Year

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Just like summer here in New Orleans, July’s housing market was hot! The new home sales activity is on its way back to normal with annual home sales already reaching 507,000. The Census Bureau and HUD reports that newly built home sales rose 5.4% from June of this year and 25.8% from July of last year.  New home inventories were reported at 218,000 in July which is the highest level that have been seen in over five years.

This increase can also be seen in private residential construction spending where the high was at an annual rate ofNewly built home sales in the Greater New Orleans increased significantly in July, 2015. $387 billion in July.  This solidifies the continuing economic growth in the construction industry.  Single-family homes have pushed construction expansion 15.8% on a year-over-year basis and multifamily new home construction spending is 21.2% higher than it was reported a year ago.

Developers are not the only ones that are seeing a positive growth, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports increase in existing home sales.  Existing home sales increased in July 0.5% from June and 7.4% from July of last year. Completed sales (closings) were reported at the highest since February 2007.

The confidence for home buyers stems from the strengthening economy.  The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that the global economic developments (GDP) growth is at a strong 3.7% rate.  These findings were based on several factors including investment, faster growth for consumption, government spending and trade components.

Now is the time for buyers buying new homes or existing homes to tap into the housing market. Sales are solid which makes the real estate market a stable venture. New home prices are continuing to strengthen making real estate a great investment.

Click Here for the Source of the Information.