MANDEVILLE, LA – The St. Tammany Economic Development Foundation (STEDF) has released its first quarter reports on St. Tammany economic trends and parish growth. In the first quarter of 2016, total residential sales volume in St. Tammany rose 15.2 percent over the first quarter of 2015.
Brenda Bertus, CEO of STEDF, said, “Though some individual indicators of growth reflect a slight decline, overall, our diversified parish economy has continued to strengthen.”
In the first quarter of 2016, overall growth of the parish economy increased by 1.9 percent for the quarter and 2.4 percent for the year.
The average price of houses sold also rose 16.3 percent over the same time period last year. Though fewer residential building permits were issued in the first quarter of 2016 than of 2015, the number of electric customers increased somewhat.
The unemployment rate in St. Tammany remains lower than the state and national averages.
The Economic Trends report discusses employment, sales tax collections and housing trends as well as other factors that contribute to the state of the local economy.
The Parish Growth report measures overall parish growth, combining economic factors into a unifying picture.
