LAPLACE — St. John the Baptist Parish’s housing market appears to be growing stronger, although it continues to lag when compared to the metro region and nationally, according to figures obtained from the parish Planning and Zoning office.

The number of housing units in the parish jumped from 17,519 in 2011 to 17,647 in 2015, a growth of .73 percent, according to the figures. The region overall averaged a 1.33 percent increase and the national average was slightly less than two percent.

The number of active residential addresses in St. John Parish showed a 2.78 percent increase in 2015 as compared to 2011. The metro region showed a 5.83 percent increase during those same years, but national averages were not available.

However, new construction permits have parish officials beaming, showing a much higher percentage in the past year, rising from 33 in 2015 to 50 at this point in 2016.

“The last 11 months have been the most productive in new housing units since 2011, which is exciting,” said Alexandra Carter, director of planning and zoning for the parish. “St. John has had a steady growth among all indicators, including housing units and new residential construction permits.

“We recently had a subdivision develop in LaPlace and in Edgard. We do see others that are actually building.”

She said a streamlined permitting process is making it easier for developers to obtain permits. She also noted an increase in the number of people renovating their existing homes.

“That is actually increasing at a faster rate than new construction, which is good for neighborhood stabilization,” Carter said.

The increases come despite three developers recently seeking permission to extend their conditional use permits for a year. Although all three were granted, Carter said such requests are a common procedure for developers who are not quite ready to break ground on a new subdivision.

“Basically, what they are called is a paper subdivision,” she said. “All is planned on paper, engineered and designed, but they have not put in any infrastructure.

“You can imagine that is a pretty big investment for the developers. You don’t want to put in that kind of money until you know you have buyers. (The developers) said given the current economic conditions, they are waiting when the time is right. That is common.”

She said some of the permits have been granted as long as 10 years ago.

“(The developers) set themselves in a good position to put in the infrastructure when they need it in a short period of time,” Alexander said, adding that reconstruction meetings among parish personnel are recommended.

“They can start the development when the time is right and they don’t have to come back and start all over again.”

— By Richard Meek