Mortgage Rate Decreases to Lowest Levels Since March

 

Between home prices and home inventory, the housing market has been a struggle for those home buyers interested in buying a new home for sale or a previously-built resale. Home inventories has not rebounded from being “wiped out” during the pandemic when interest rates dropped to the lowest levels ever seen. The amount of homes being built by new home builders have not recovered enough to supply the demand that is in the market. Also, homeowners who were thinking about selling their homes are in a holding pattern because the interest rates have been so high that it has been prohibitive

to sell a home and purchase a new one with a loan which would have more than double the interest rate of their current home loan.

Good news came to home buyers though when mortgage interest rates dropped to their lowest level in 5 weeks. The average interest rate dropped to 6.35%, down from 6.73% in March, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. Interest rates which are closer to 6% versus 7% are always good news.

“This week’s decrease continues a recent sideways trend in mortgage rates, which is a welcome departure from the record increases of last year,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

The focus of interest rates is the debt-to-income ratio which lenders calculate to see how much a home buyer can afford to buy. The increase in interest rates has shown a huge discrepancy in monthly payments because of the difference of hundreds of dollars in monthly loan payment cost. The same house at the same price could be priced out of a home buyer’s affordability range due to it changing the debt-to-income ratio.

So, the decrease in mortgage rates is good news for now. Nationally, inflation is also down, so it will be a game of wait-and-see to see what the Federal Reserve with interest rates now that inflation is cooling.

For now, home buyers have a couple of choices to deflect the high interest rates. The first one is to buy now and refinance later. There are buyers who think that these high rates will eventually come down, so they will go ahead and buy a home at a higher rate and then refinance it later when the rates drop. Another option to purchase a new home is called a mortgage rate buydown. Buyers who qualify can get a lender program, where they pay for a couple to few years at a lower interest rate with an agreement the rate will go up. When the rate goes up, the home buyer has the option to refinance to stay at a lower rate.

So, overall, the decrease in interest rates, no matter how slight, can be a sign of better days to come in the real estate market.

 

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Beauty, Resilience and Environmentally-Friendly Changes at City Park

 

At 170 years old, City Park in the heart of New Orleans includes 1,300 acres of green space, water features, walking trails, woodlands (including the world’s largest conglomeration of live oaks), and historic and newly-built structures, which make it a popular attraction to both residents and visitors alike. These structures and spaces include museums, a sculpture garden, golf courses, tennis courts, 2 stadiums, an amusement park, Storyland, and event venues.

In 2022, the City Park Conservancy, a non-profit organization, was put in charge of the day-to-day management of City Park. This new organization is spearheading a new, 100-year master plan

renovation, which is estimated to take 18 months at a cost of $200 million. The City Park Conservancy chose a landscape architectural firm – Michael Van Valkenburg Associates, Inc. (MVVA), out of New York to create and ultimately do the project.

Over the next 18 months, MVVA will hold public forums to get feedback from the community as the plan comes together. The new master plan renovation will address acreage above I-610, which includes two golf courses and the Wisner Tract. Adding more public restrooms and upgrading the existing ones, enhancing the walking trails for ease of use, and increasing public safety are also goals of the renovation.

Working a natural plan into the existing land is also one of the results that city leaders would like to see to make City Park an asset to the overall flood control plan of the city of New Orleans.

“Parks are meant to be resilient. They are meant to be a green sponge,” said City Park CEO, Cara Lambright. “We have never had a look at what City Park could do for us in that regard. We need to talk to our community about how we can create something beautiful that is also resilient.”

This is a process which is being addressed by MVVA to involve an arborist to create a tree plan, which includes creating an inventory and assessing the usage of the undeveloped parts of the park.

This part, called the Wisner Tract, is enjoyed by residents and visitors alike with a tree swing and 90 acres dedicated as a “Passive Recreation” area.

Previous renovations and additions in the last 20 years included the new Louisiana Children’s Museum, a newly-enclosed courtyard at the New Orleans Museum of Art, and improvement of the maintenace of the green spaces and woodlands.

Before Hurricane Katrina, City Park underwent a massive, master plan renovation focusing on projects, such as the miniature golf course, tennis courts and Great Lawn.

 

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Home Builders Associations’ Southshore Parade of Homes

 

The Southshore of New Orleans will once again be open to the public for 2 weekends in a row for the Home Builders Association of Greater New Orleans’ Parade of Homes. This year, from June 17th to June 25th, you can visit new homes for sale – newly completed new construction homes – Saturday and Sunday from 1pm – 5pm.

The Parade of Homes features 22 homes to tour. The homes are located on more than just the New Orleans, Metairie, and West Bank metro areas – there are homes that are newly built in Destrehan as well. 14 builders participated in this year’s Parade. This offers new home buyers the unique opportunity

to tour so many homes and view new builder features and upgraded amenities and technology in these new homes for sale.

“We have a great variety of homes this year at all price points, from $249,000 up to $2 million,” said Patrice Kononchek, chair of this year’s event. “It also covers a wide geographic area, from Lake Vista to Destrehan to Kenner and more. There are a lot of options for people to take in.”

After the Parade of Homes, there will be a virtual Parade of Homes online at www.hbagno.org/paradeofhomes, which starts on June 26th. This gives home buyers wanting to view the homes for sale in the comfort of their home, on mobile and desktop devices.

Many of the new homes being built focus on potential home buyers who will be living and working from home. The included amenities in these new homes for sale feature outdoor kitchens, home offices, workout rooms, and home theaters.

The Parks of Plaquemines has 3 custom homes in the Parade of Homes. Visit our community to speak to our exclusive, premiere builders in the Greater New Orleans area!

 

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Come to the Plaquemines Parish Seafood

 The annual seafood and heritage festival is one of Plaquemines Parish’s biggest events. The festival was held this year from April 28 – 30, 2023 at the festival grounds in Belle Chasse.

Patrons enjoyed seafood and culture through restaurants and organizations’ food and history. Everyone enjoyed Croatian American Society’s chargrilled oysters. All the cuisine served at the festival will be prepared b local restaurants.

The event had live music by Groovy 7, Electric Ramble, R&R Smokin’ Foundation, Supercharger, BC Boyz, Faith Becnel and Rockin’ Doopsie Jr. There were also carnival rides, crafts and an oyster drop raffle.

“We are excited to celebrate Plaquemines Parish’s seafood and unique culture at the nineteenth annual Plaquemines Parish Seafood Festival. This year we have added carnival rides to the festival. Enjoy an amazing weekend of music, food, carnival rides and fun for the entire family,” said Dondra Kientz, Plaquemines Parish Seafood Festival Event spokesperson.

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Gretna City Park $7 Million Overhaul

 Gretna City Park was awarded a $7 million overhaul to take 80 acres of undeveloped green space and turn it into a place for stormwater to go. The park now collects an additional 6.5 million gallons of stormwater. This is the perfect example of how we can use nature to help with water management. Mayor Belinda Constant describes it as “nature-based solutions for water management and ecosystem restoration.”

The $7 million was granted to the project by federal funding from Louisiana’s Strategic Adaptations for Future Environments (LA SAFE). There are 10 other projects that are also receiving funding that are located throughout Louisiana. The improvements include 1 1/2 miles of pedestrian trails, a 1,500-square-foot open-air pavilion, a kayak launch, fishing piers, a bog garden, a wildflower meadow, and hundreds of new trees.

“What you’re looking at today is a secret high-performance landscape. This is one of the highest-performing stormwater landscapes in the city, if not the region, if not the state,” says Andy Sternard of the architecture firm Waggonner & Ball.

According to Gretna officials, Gretna Park is located in the area that is described as the city's resilience district. This district is among the highest concentration of properties with multiple National Flood Insurance Program claims in the state.  The park will also receive a $10 million grant to improve the drainage network along the 25th Street Canal from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

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Pathscrossed Will Be Held in Westwego

 Pathscrossed is a street party along Sala Avenue that will host three art exhibit openings in Westwego. Sala Avenue will be closed and there will be live music, a red-carpet reception for all and a possible appearance of fire dancers.

The organizer is artist Josh Wigerter, who is using the event as a  tribute to all the artists who’ve contributed to his successful career.  Wingerter is known for his art that was along Frenchman Street that is graffiti style and began during the pandemic lockdown. He wanted to create a display that was kind of like an outdoor art gallery.

He became well known for his portrait of Louis Armstrong with a mask, and Wonder Woman dressed as a vaccine-armed nurse. Wingerter grew up in Westwego and is starting an art colony so to speak in the community. The 37-year-old previously was in management at Home Depot and earned his degree in business at UNO so he knows the business side of things.

He struck a deal with Westwego to rent an abandoned two-story building that used to be a bank. He turned it into a gallery and studio that now is part of the old main area. Wingerter loves the area and **likes the intimate vibe of Sala Avenue and would like to see it grow into an art destination like Royal Street, without the crowds and complications of visiting the French Quarter.**

A big part of this event is to help artists with how to make a living through their art. Among other artists that will be featured at the street party will be Dago, Paco Lane, Monique Lorden and Aubrey McGuire. All of these artists want to embrace the cute little town and add some quirky flavor to Westwego.

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Jefferson Parish’s West Bank Expressway Will Get a Facelift

 The West Bank Expressway is a corridor for panhandlers who ask vehicles for money but this will go away once a $1.35 million project will enhance the roadway. Projects included include new landscaping and signage at all the intersections from Terry Parkway to Ames Boulevard and new trees that will line the landscaping from Westwood Drive to Nine Mile Point Road. The improvements will also include removing the walkways along the road so that the panhandlers will not have a place to panhandle motorists.

“We’re trying to sell a quality of life and a better place to live here in Jefferson Parish and especially on the West Bank. It doesn’t take much for you to look around at this eight miles and say that you’ve ever been proud with what’s here, because I don’t think any of us have,” comments Parish Council member Ricky Templet.

This elevated part of West Bank Express has been the perfect hub for the homeless. The improvements will help alleviate this problem. Sen. Patrick Connick has filed a bill that will transfer this portion of the land from the state to the parish so that the parish can place ordinances against camping.

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