Speculators circle New Orleans for real estate deals

[struggle4progress]

<snip> Days after Hurricane Katrina struck, investors began posting inquiries about properties for sale on the website craigslist.org. Under ''New Orleans," dozens of ads were posted seeking properties to buy in Louisiana, including in the city's French Quarter and nearby Garden District. Some ads offered property for sale. <snip>

Floods, hurricanes, and other disasters often attract what realtors call property ''vultures." But interest after Hurricane Katrina also is propelled by the nation's speculative real estate frenzy. In a market fueled by record-low mortgage interest rates, prospective buyers are sweeping into New Orleans in search of risky deals that may provide big profits when, or if, the city is rebuilt.

''We really don't have any comparable experience of something like this in the US, at least not in the last 100 years," said Henry Pollakowski, director of the Housing Affordability Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. <snip>

LoopNet has measured a 45 percent rise in investor inquiries for properties in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama since Katrina, which drove hundreds of thousands of people from homes that now may be destroyed, be flooded, or lack utilities. Byrne said interest in residential properties is highest: Inquiries for hotels and housing rose 72 percent; multifamily properties such as apartment buildings are up 54 percent. <snip>

http://www.boston.com/news/weather/articles/2005/09/09/speculators_circle_new_orleans_for_real_estate_deals

[whistle]

1. The biggest land-grab of the 21st century

[MichiganVote]

2. Yup. Sad for the thousands of residents who will be unable to return

NO will become the Disneyland of Jazz by the time they are through.

[whistle]

3. They'll have to payoff mortgages and 7% hurricane deductibles

....most may not have flood insurance, or because the flood happened in a declared hurricane disaster, they loose because of huge deductibles that most with never be able to pay.

[Turbineguy]

4. Louisiana Purchase

GOP style!