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!

Highest Number of August Building Permits Since 2006

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Touted as one of the most family-friendly communities in the South by parish president, Pat Brister, St. Tammany Parish passed a significant milestone for the highest number of building permits issued in any August since 2006.  In fact, the number of 117 building permits issued in August, 2013, was the first time that building permits broke 100 since March of 2008.  2013 building permit totals have already exceeded the total number of building permits issued in the entire years of 2009, 2010, and 2011.

“The numbers are steadily improving and we like to see that. Builders are getting lots of calls,” says Susan Meyer, president of the St. Tammany Home exterior-front-1Builders Association.  New home building permits also reflect a variety of home styles both spec / inventory new homes and custom new homes.

“The inventory is depleted and we’re really trying to keep up with the demand,” says Bobby Hurley, owner of Hurley Homes, LLC.  Hurley states that low interest rates, economic growth, and the possibility of pent-up demand of home buyers has builders who were able to maintain throughout the lean years of 2007 – 2012 scrambling to keep up with the requests for new home design as well as new home building.

“For three or four years, there was really not a whole lot going on in terms of homebuilding,” Hurley said. “But things have finally loosed up and we have some really positive things going on.”

192-st-calais-exteriorThe increase in building permits is also a good sign for those individuals who are still working in the new construction industry.  Contractors and sub-contractors who still work on every facet of the new home building process are benefitting from the increased demand for new homes and the evidence of this demand in the higher building permit numbers.  This has increased employment numbers in St. Tammany Parish as well.

St. Tammany Parish’s building permit statistics are focused largely in West St. Tammany Parish in the cities of Mandeville, Madisonville, Abita Springs, and Covington.  Many subdivisions that are still in the development stages are seeing the demand for new homes on the rise through the purchase of lots in their neighborhoods.  Bedico Creek Preserve has had homesites that have sold at a frenetic pace over the first 8 months of the year.  The most popular section of our subdivision has been the Longview Neighborhood.  We have also sold out all of our previous inventory and Our Builders have started several New Homes, some custom and some spec homes which are still for sale.

Overall, August’s building permit numbers bode well for this suburb of New Orleans on the northshore of the lake.  For more information on Lots for Sale and Homes for Sale at Bedico Creek Preserve, or to contact one of our builders to begin your floorplan design or to build a new home, call 985-845-4200.  Contact Us Directly at [email protected].

 

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A Sneak Peek of the New Library in Madisonville

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Designed by John Owens of Sizeler Thompson Brown Architect at a cost of $4.7 million dollars, the new library in Madisonville, Louisiana is located with views of the Tchefuncte River from the dozens of windows throughout all levels of the library.  The 15,000 square foot library stands 14 feet off of the ground on 1.5 acres on Mabel Drive across from the Lake Ponchartrain Basin Maritime Museum.  The land for the library was donated by the town of Madisonville.

madisonville-libraryThe library has too many modern conveniences to count.  It is considered one of the most modern libraries in St. Tammany Parish with rows of Dell computers, meeting rooms, and areas for teens and younger children.

“I’m still trying to find a bad view out of this place,” Donald Westmoreland, director of the parish’s public library system, said as he passed by one of the many windows.

This library can accommodate a lot of things at the same time,” Westmoreland said, noting that there are areas for community meetings, computer classes, quiet reading and, of course, browsing shelves of books.

The new library manager will be Tamie Martin, and the library will open on September 5, 2013. The original Madisonville, Louisiana library was a much older, more historic building which was damaged in Hurricane Katrina.  A decision was made by the town of Madisonville as well as St. Tammany Parish not to repair the damage because it was cost prohibitive. Because the town does not have the tax money for these types of projects, funding for the new library came from the parish’s library system’s savings account.

In anticipation of an increase in operating costs,  voters in Madisonville approved an increase of millage from 5.35 mills to 6.29 mills.  The Library Board of Control has yet to collect on the increased millage but a request from Westmoreland to collect the full millage is currently in progress.

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Land Around Madisonville Elementary School Expands

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A decision by the St. Tammany Parish School Board will expand the footprint of land owned and occupied by Madisonville Elementary School.  A recommendation by the St. Tammany Parish SChool Board’s Business Affairs and Administrative Committe has been accepted by the St. Tammany Parish SChool Board.  The Board is on the verge ofmadisonville-elementary-school buying almost 5 acres of land that surrounds Madisonville Elementary School.

The price of the purchase is $356,000 according to 2 appraisals of 3 separate tracts of land which front Louisiana 1077 and C.S. Owens.  For the purpose of the purchase, the district requires that 2 appraisals are taken per tract of land. The reason for this is that the land owners are then offered an average of the two prices.

Owners of the land were 1) Veronica Smith Fabre with 2.72 acres appraised at $278,000 and $290,000, 2) Curtis Spencer with 1.29 acres appraised at $48,000 and $39,000 and Kendal Daggs with a .78-acre tract appraised at $31,000 and $26,000.

Madisonville Elementary School’s School Board President Elizabeth Heintz felt that the school’s current campus was landlocked.  The opportunity to purchase more land for future development presented itself, and now steps have been taken to close the deal.  This will allow Madisonville Elementary School to continue progessing as one of St. Tammany Parish’s best schools in an already stellar school district.

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$20 Million in Bonds To Be Issued by the St. Tammany Parish School Board

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Following voter approval in May, 2013 for the issue of $135 million in bonds, the St. Tammany Parish School Board issued the first draw of these bonds in the amount of $20 million for school construction and upgrades for technology and security.  If sale of the bonds goes as planned, workMadisonvilleElementarySchool and improvements could begin as early as Fall, 2013.

The entire amount of the approved $135 million is meant to help schools throughout St. Tammany Parish with technology upgrades as well as maintenance, construction, and repairs to existing buildings and structures on campuses of all shapes and sizes.  Below are specific projects that have been earmarked to receive funding:

  • New classrooms to replace modular units at Fontainebleau Junior High, Lyon Elementary, Madisonville Elementary, Mandeville Elementary, Pontchartrain Elementary and Tchefuncte Middle ($46 million)
  • System-wide technology and security upgrades, including computers and network upgrades necessary to meet state requirements for testing ($20 million)
  • Infrastructure repairs, such as water pipes and fire sprinklers, at Bonne Ecole Elementary, Boyet Junior/Little Oak Middle, Covington High and Slidell Junior High ($16.5 million)

Another $52.5 million would be used on renovations at nine campuses:

  • Abney Elementary: $6.7 million for cafeteria/auditorium and other renovation.
  • Carolyn Park Middle: $4.1 million to renovate the cafeteria, library and gym.
  • Chahta-Ima Elementary: $1.8 million for a new administration building and entrance.
  • Clearwood Junior High: $8.5 million for new classrooms, floors and ceilings and a sprinkler system.
  • Fontainebleau High: $2.6 million for masonry and roof work and exterior painting.
  • Mandeville Junior High: $3 million to replace windows, flooring and doors.
  • Northshore High: $5 million to replace floors and ceilings and renovate a consumer science classroom.
  • Pearl River High: $14 million for renovations to classrooms, cafeteria, band hall and physical education dressing rooms.
  • Slidell High: $6.7 million for new classrooms and renovations to the cafeteria and physical education dressing rooms.

This is good news for parents considering buying a new home for sale at Bedico Creek Preserve as Madisonville Elementary will be replacing their modular units with actual classrooms using the money provided by the bonds sale.  St. Tammany Parish has one of the best school systems in Southeast Louisiana.  Also, the Madisonville School District also is known as one of the best school districts in St. Tammany Parish.  Improvements to schools throughout the district will only improve the level of excellence to these schools throughout the Parish.  To find out more about purchasing a home at a subdivision located in the Madisonville School District, Call 985-845-4200 or E-mail [email protected].

Click Here for the Source of the Information.

St. Tammany Parish Creates Flood Insurance Information Website

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Bedico Creek Preserve has enjoyed the benefits of the changed flood maps provided by FEMA at the beginning of 2013. However, not all homeowners in St. Tammany Parish have seen a happy resolution with the distribution of these maps. After many town hall meetings and legislative sessions, Louisiana Congress is in the process of challenging the timeline of the implementation of the Biggert-Waters Act citing a massive and sudden increase in flood insurance for some in southeastern Louisiana.

In order to keep concerned homeowners and home buyers abreast of the latest information about congressional discussions, St. Tammany Parish has launched a new website – www.stpgov.org/floodmaps – which specifically covers all of the information of the Biggert-Waters Act as well as the steps that senators and congressmen and women are making on behalf of Louisiana citizens. In addition to legislators making strides on behalf of home buyers, local government officials including thirteen parish presidents have also joined in protesting the Act.

In June, the Louisiana House of Representatives approved an amendment which essentially blocks FEMA from implementing the Biggert-Waters Act 2012 law because the current home elevations have been remapped and are now significantly below required flood elevations through no fault of the homeowner. The amendment is designed to give lawmakers more time to gradually implement the plan as well as grandfathering in some homes and insurance plans. The amendment has only been passed in the House and will have to have Senate approval to become law. To that end, Sen. Mary Landrieu introduced a bill late last month which would delay flood insurance premium rates from going up.

Because St. Tammany Parish is one of the local parishes in Southeastern Louisiana which will be highly impacted by government decisions and legislation, the website is designed specifically for home buyers and homeowners and offers updates on reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program, the progress of FEMA digital flood insurance rate maps and links to other resources on the subject. In addition to steps being taken in Louisiana Congress, other states such as New York and New Jersey are also taking steps and creating coalitions against the Bigger-Waters Act. New York and New Jersey were affected by Superstorm Sandy – a type of hundred-year storm – on the Northeast coast and are experiencing negative impacts from the indebted flood insurance system as well.

At Bedico Creek Preserve, our subdivision was positively impacted by the new flood insurance maps, and we can now offer our residents the opportunity to buy a new home in a community which either doesn’t require flood insurance at all or if it is required, the rates were drastically reduced. Contact Bedico Creek today to view our Homes for Sale. Call 985-845-4200 or E-mail [email protected].

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Housing Market Prices – A “Return to Normalcy”

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With all of the talk of a Recession vs. a Depression, why lower interest rates are not necessarily a good thing for the economy but a great thing for homeowners, and how unemployment affects the stock market; it can be a very confusing world for home buyers, homeowners, and home sellers alike.  With the announcement of a decrease in the unemployment levels, home pricing “hit its peak” (or one of them) and has now seemed to level off.  Let us explain why that is a good thing:

First of all, home pricing hit a record high in April, 2013, with a 12% average increase nationally.  Some markets saw as much as a 20%, 1-year jump in pricing.  While this is GREAT news for the housing sector, it is not a sustainable level.  If home prices continued to increase over the next several months or years, pretty soon, homes would be overvalued and 1) no longer be affordable for the income in the market and 2) would increase the amount of rent charged for housing.  So, house price increases slowing down or leveling off is actually a sign that the real estate market is returning to normal.

One of the reasons that home prices enjoyed such a staggering increase is because of the disappearance of the foreclosed home.  For the last few years, foreclosures have flooded the market and investors have been right behind them, buying up houses in bulk at significantly reduced rates.  As investors disappear from the market, so do the deals, and pricing immediately takes a positive upward turn and a big step back to normalcy.
What this means for you as the home buyer is that if you are going to make a deal on a new home, the market is still “empty” enough that you can do so.  With the increase in home pricing values, homeowners that had previously been 140-st-calais“underwater” with their homes have found their home values coming “back to center.”  In fact, according to CoreLogic, a real estate research firm, 850,000 residential properties returned to positive equity during the 1st 3 months of 2013.  Now that homeowners won’t lose money on the sale of their house, they are more likely to sell their house.

With that being said, it’s too soon to say it’s a seller’s market, but those days are getting a lot closer, so you should definitely take advantage of the still record-low interest rates and the reasonably priced inventory that is currently on the market.  At Bedico Creek Preserve, we have had builders buying lots from us consistently during the 1st 6 months of this year.  We have a lot of construction going on and a lot of new homes going up.  You should definitely take a drive out to Madisonville, Louisiana to see what is going on in our subdivision!  Call 985-845-4200 or E-mail [email protected] for more information.

 

Click Here for the Source of the Information.