Lafayette is running out of starter homes
With an aging stock of existing homes, and effectively no new construction below $200,000, Lafayette’s first-time homebuyers are being shut out of the market.
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Housing
New listings, meanwhile, in Lafayette Parish remain 23.8% behind last year’s total, which would put more buyers competing for a smaller pool of properties and keep prices from falling. This year’s total is on pace to be the lowest yearly total since at least 2018.
Source: The Advocate
Lafayette flood insurance rates will rise 81%, FEMA estimates
Increases of more than 50% are expected for National Flood Insurance Program policies in nine of the 10 ZIP Codes that cover the Lafayette area. That represents 15,000 single-family homes.
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The change of ownership caught many of the residents by surprise, residents said, with some not finding out about the transaction until it was reported in The Acadiana Advocate.
Source: The Advocate
Can Lafayette build its way to a resilient future?
A new Habitat for Humanity home in the historic La Place neighborhood near Downtown could be a model for homes that create more energy than they use and meet some of the nation’s highest construction standards.
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Lafayette is running out of shelter space
Housing support agencies moved people into hotels around Lafayette using emergency federal and state government funds. Those funds have long since dried up.
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Registration requirements likely for Lafayette short-term rentals
Requiring short-term rentals to register with the city is a likely compromise, but operators and opponents remain divided on restrictions like conditional permitting.
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Conversation: Is Lafayette affordable?
Studies suggest Lafayette isn’t so cheap. Is Lafayette an affordable place for you?
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It took the public insurer more than a decade to trim the number of risky policies it was holding to less than 40,000, through a process called depopulation. But over the span of a few months, after the collapse of a dozen insurers, more than 80,000 policyholders had come rushing back into Citizens’ arms.
Source: The Advocate
Insurance crisis could hasten Louisiana’s young talent exodus
The crisis’ impact on the cost of living in Louisiana threatens to add to the state’s long-standing problem with depopulation, raising questions about the long-term resilience of its communities.
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How a civil rights investigation could alter the I-49 Connector
The investigation could force changes to the project to blunt its impact on the Black and low-income neighborhoods that will house it.
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LCG settles federal panhandling suit for $42,000
The suit aimed to stop LCG’s clampdown on panhandling — which district and appellate courts and the U.S. Supreme Court have repeatedly found to be protected speech under the First Amendment.
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