Top Real Estate Influencer
The Home Builders Association of Greater New Orleans (HBAGNO) has been the voice of the residential housing industry for 80 years, representing nearly 1,000 members serving seven parishes in Southeast Louisiana. Quality, affordable housing is at the core of its mission. The organization’s New Orleans Home and Garden Show turned 65 this year and its Parade of Homes set outreach records in 2022. HBAGNO’s subsidiary, the New Orleans Education League of the Construction Industry (NOEL), provided over $500,000 in repairs at no cost to elderly and disabled residents in 2021. The HBA federation works hard to bring the American dream home.
What are you most excited about in the coming year? I like to say, “We don’t just build homes, we build communities.” While most nonprofits struggled with membership during the pandemic, our builder membership increased! I’m proud to say our builders demonstrate the best craftsmanship available in the industry today. We have special challenges in Southeast Louisiana, and resilience is the name of the game in our community. Today we have great new technologies that provide the safest homes ever built. Fortified homes are coming and will also bring relief to soaring insurance prices. This is critical to preserve our neighborhoods. Whether you shuck oysters, perform on the 88s, braid king cakes, or navigate Ol’ Man River, the Crescent City is at the center of what we call home. I’m excited to be a part of creating that community.
What is the biggest challenge facing your industry today? Affordable housing is at the core of our mission at every local association, state association, and at the National Association of Home Builders, which represents 140,000 members. The American dream of homeownership has never been more challenged than today. Prices are soaring due to unpredictable supply chains costs, a critical labor shortage, soaring insurance rates and a decline in capital availability. Housing accounts for up to 20% of GDP, so action is needed today. Fortunately, all these issues have legislative solutions if we have the political will to see them through. Our members join to support our mission to bring quality, affordable housing to every American. We are fighting for that change in every parish and county, in every state, and in Washington, D.C.
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