Gretna Farmer’s Market – June, 2013
Gretna Farmer’s Market
300 Huey P Long Ave.
Gretna, LA 70053
Saturday Dates in June, 2013
June 1, 2013
June 8, 2013
June 15, 2013
June 22, 2013
June 29, 2013
Click Here for More Information.
Ground Breaking for Gretna Green Playground
Come Play With Us!
Gretna Green Playground
1090 Newton St.
Gretna, LA 70053
Saturday, June 29, 2013
11AM – 12PM
Louisiana Officials Educate Feds About Flood Insurance Premiums
Rep. Maxine Waters, one of the authors of the Biggert-Waters Act said that she never intended the bill to have such far-reaching and catastrophic consequences for residents who live outside federal levee protection, especially in South Louisiana. It actually seems that no one checked to see how the elimination of federal subsidies and the reorganization of the Flood Elevation Maps to redefine flood-prone areas would affect the “real-time” flood insurance rates.
As an example of such a serious oversight by members of Congress, one Plaquemines Parish resident who currently pays $638/year in flood insurance, according to the parameters of the new flood maps and non-existent subsidies, will now pay $28,000/year. That’s an almost 44% increase in the resident’s flood insurance rate, not to mention the price of a new car or a down payment on a new house. Oh, and even though the house is outside the federal levee system, it’s never been flooded – not in Hurricanes Isaac or Katrina.
With these statistics in hand, 14 parish leaders from Louisiana traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with the House Financial Services Committee and FEMA to “give them a head’s up” as to the real implications of the Biggert-Waters Act according to Jefferson Parish President John Young. In this meeting, Louisiana officials were informed by congressional and federal officials that they were completely unaware of THIS effect of the legislation.
“They were very surprised and shocked at the consequences,” Young said, adding the Louisiana officials were the first “to advise them of the unintended consequences. They really had no clue of the consequences of this legislation.”
Meanwhile, Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu with the support of legislative officials from New York and New Jersey which were also enormously impacted by the Biggert-Waters Act is now on her second bill to get the flood insurances premium increases delayed until a solution can be found. Her first bill was blocked by Sen. Patrick Toomey from Pennsylvania because of other aspects of the bill not addressing the Biggert-Waters Act Amendment.
House Prices Sustain Affordability
The National Association of Home Builders keeps a running “journal” of home affordability throughout the United States. They do this in conjunction with Wells Fargo Bank, and the result is a quarterly report called the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). This particular index is a measure of the percentage of homes sold in a given area that are affordable to families earning the area’s median income during a specific quarter. The information is collected from the recorded mortgages – which is public information – by Core Logic, a research and statistical analysis company. Any information gathered on interest rates is done so through the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
According to the HOI, home affordability in 2013 remains on the upswing as 73.7% of new and existing homes sold in the first quarter were affordable to a family making the national median income of $64,400. This income is an average of the median incomes of individual cities throughout the United States.
Interestingly, Ogden-Clearfield, UT has had the most affordability in new and existing home prices for 3 quarters running with 93.4% sold to families of a median income of $70,800. Unfortunately, San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA has had the least affordability coming in at just 28.9% affordability based on a median income of $102,000.
Many reasons are given for the current home affordability including stabilizing home prices, super low interest rates, and the “buyer’s market” during and after the Recession as the housing market slowly recovers from the 2008 crash. One factor that may cause the affordability percentage to stagnate is that the cost of building a new home has gone up with rising gas and oil prices as well as current inflation. Housing materials cost more than they did even 3 years ago, and the president of the NAHB does not see them coming down any time soon.
However, affordability is always something to celebrate, and the home buyers at The Parks of Plaquemines in New Orleans have prices to be happy about. They have shown us this by helping us sell out Phase I of all of the lots in our garden home section of our subdivision – The Villas. Our Traditional Lots are also selling well, and new homes are being contracted to build every quarter. Come out and see what all the fuss is about!! Call 504-364-2350 or E-mail Info@TheParksLifestyle.com to get more information on taking a tour of our community.
Plaquemines Housing Fair
Celebrating Homeownership Month
Belle Chasse Library
8442 Hwy. 23
Belle Chasse, LA 70037
Saturday, June 22, 2013
9AM – 12PM (Noon)
Come Meet With Lenders, Developers, Builders, and Insurance Companies
Call 504-822-8519 or Click Here for More Information.
