With lower cost of living, higher per capita income, the enviable St. Tammany Parish School district, as well as, abundant buying opportunities in Mandeville Louisiana real estate and Covington Louisiana real estate markets, the time is right and ripe for serious buyers to head towards the area.

St. Tammany Parish is, no doubt, counted amongst the best parishes in the United States, and the reasons are numerous and considerable. It offers great quality of life, booming economy, low living costs, great medical facilities and, to top it all off, an enviable school district. The cities of Covington, Mandeville, and Slidell are the jewels in the Parish crown.

The area boasts beautiful scenic locations, that place it among the top tourist destinations of the country and make Covington real estate, Mandeville Louisiana real estate, and Hammond real estate markets a prime hunting ground for people considering buying a house near New Orleans. The region is experiencing massive growth, both in population as well as businesses.

With diversity in the employment market, it is well worth considering a move to this beautiful area. One of the main features that sets the community apart and makes it even more desirable for families with school age children is the education average of the Parish. With 85% of its residents having graduated from high schools and more than 28% holding a Bachelors or higher degree, the parish surpasses both the state and national average.

The public school system of St. Tammany Parish is heralded as the largest single employer in the region. The Parish schools’ scores excel against the state’s average making them an important factor for families to consider when they think of buying a house in or around New Orleans. There are 49 public and 22 private or faith-based schools in the St. Tammany Parish.

The school district has been rated among the top 100 school systems of major metropolitan areas in the U.S. With almost 34,000 students studying in the Parish schools, seven schools have been named in National Schools of Excellence by the US Department of Education. The Parish schools average higher, on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, than the state and national norm in almost all grades as well as subjects.

The schools in the Parish have averagely smaller class sizes and around 95% of the teaching staff, teaching core subjects, is highly qualified. This, again, is higher than both the state and national average. The average on the American College Test for the students of the Parish was also higher than state and national average, standing at 21.5.

The state of Louisiana boasts a very innovative Tuition Opportunity Program for students. According to this program, a high school graduate who attains a 2.5-grade-point-average, finishes a college preparatory curriculum, and scores an ACT not less than 20, gets free college tuition. With the average of the Parish higher than 20, you are definitely giving your children a great opportunity to avail this incentive.

There are options available for students in all major subjects for higher education, with 12 colleges within commuting distance of the Parish. The average annual tuition fee for the state of Louisiana is considered among the most affordable in the country. Tulane University, ranked in the top 50 universities of the country, is one in the list of institutions in the area like Loyola, Xavier, Dillard, Southern University and University of New Orleans, to name a few.

With lower cost of living, higher per capita income, great facilities and attractive, as well as, abundant buying opportunities (building of 261 new homes permitted each month) in Mandeville Louisiana real estate and Covington Louisiana real estate markets, the time is right and ripe for serious buyers to head towards the area.

Some important things to be kept in mind while buying a house are: * proper knowledge of the area and the market * assessment of your resources and requirements before hand * the ability to hunt the best bargain.

For this, it is always advisable to find yourself a good and reliable agent. Having professional is advisable when making such important and potentially life changing financial decisions.

Don’t worry too much about the doom and gloom predictions you hear about the nation’s real estate market: home value prices are dropping, the bubble is bursting, housing’s not selling, etc. Looked at on a national level, the market is simply leveling out from the boom experienced the past few years. Besides, knowing how things are nationally and what the median home value for the nation is (221,900) isn’t going to help you when you decide to relocate.

Real estate is an investment and must be looked at as such. You want to invest somewhere your home value is sure to appreciate. By examining past home value and sales trends in a specific area, as well as that area’s economy, unemployments rates, job opportunities and tourist attractions, you can get a idea of whether home value prices are likely to rise or fall in that area. Areas with strong economies, low unemployment, plenty of jobs and lots of tourist attractions are more likely to have sharply increase home value appreciation.

That being said, there is one area in the U.S. that’s real estate market is still a bit of a mystery: Louisiana. With Hurricane Katrina driving so many people out of their homes and destroying still more homes (and consequently, home value), Louisiana has been focused on rebuilding itself and the New Orleans area in particular. Unlike any other state, Louisiana actually lost population in the past few years, with the 2006 census listing a population of 4,287,768 – several hundred thousand less people than in 2004, before Katrina. The state has been building back it’s economy and agricultural products such as seafood, cotton, soybeans, cattle, sugarcane, poultry and eggs, dairy and rice are being churned out as fast as possible. Also, industrial sectors are back in full swing of production, including chemical products, petroleum and coal, food processing, transportation equipment, paper products and tourism.

Even with the Katrina tragedy, Louisiana is still a center for tourism. Even a flooded, destroyed New Orleans brings in more tourists than many other areas in the U.S. The state can be broken down into 5 regions. Enjoy the world-famous New Orleans culture, music, food, architecture and love of life in the Greater New Orleans area. The most talked, sung and written about city in the Western World, New Orleans is so steeped in French and Spanish culture that some still consider it a European City. In Cajun Country you can enjoy the Creole and Cajun spice of life and spirit – while taking in the culture and a few wildlife adventures in the heart of the swamps and bayous. The Gulf of Mexico is also accessible from this area.

Plantation Country is full of old time plantations, turned into testaments of history and culture of a time when cotton was still king, as well as the capital city of Baton Rouge. At the Crossroads region (the center of Louisiana) you can enjoy outdoor adventure: hiking the National Forests, canoing, fishing, birding and hunting as well as the Native American culture that still lingers. Finally, there’s the norther region or the Sportsman’s Paradise, where woods, hills and lakes combine to provide any outdoor activity you could hope for. There’s also great nightlife, casino, gaming and entertainment venues for everyone in the area. Regardless of what you’re looking to do, you’re bound to find it somewhere in Louisiana.

Because of the disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana’s real estate market is still recovering. Their unemployment rate is relatively high at 4.8%, though the state is working on that. The median household income is still fairly low at about $36,729 in 2005, much lower than the national median. According to RealtyTrac, the median home value sales price in Louisiana in 2006 was about $172,510. You can expect the state to be a huge area of growth over the next few years as they build back what was lost to the hurricane.

The value of a home is different in every area of Louisiana, but it looks like undamaged homes are selling quickly to those who want to get back in the area. Since only undamaged homes are selling, and are in high demand, sellers have the ability to raise prices, unlike the rest of the U.S. at this point. As the state is built back up and past residents continue to move back, it seems likely that eventually Louisiana will recover, the market will become more balanced and stable, and home value will begin to appreciate again.