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Forget the Hamptons. The smart money is heading to a stretch of Louisiana most Americans couldn’t find on a map.
The Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain, anchored by the towns of Covington, Mandeville and Slidell, has become one of the hottest luxury housing markets nobody’s talking about.
Prices for the priciest homes in Covington have shot up 94% over the last decade, while Mandeville isn’t far behind at 80%, according to fresh data from Realtor.com.
Compare that to the national luxury market, where top-tier home values have climbed a comparatively modest 57% over the same stretch.
Realtor.com senior economist Anthony Smith says the seeds of the boom were planted two decades ago, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
“Households who wanted to stay near New Orleans moved north across the lake,” Smith told the Daily Mail. “Over the years, St. Tammany Parish stopped being a suburb and became its own metro, though it keeps close ties to New Orleans.”
These days the buyers pouring in aren’t just locals. Out-of-state money is flowing in from Dallas and Chicago, where house hunters are cashing out on markets that no longer stretch as far as they used to.
In Louisiana, that same budget buys a lot more square footage, along with the kind of old-money aesthetic that’s made cities like Charleston and Savannah into buyer magnets.
“The area also has the Southern charm ingredients buyers look for: walkable downtowns, historic cottages and old oak trees lining the streets,” Smith said. “Buyers here can capture the same character for less.”
Covington has crowned itself the region’s luxury capital. The median price for the top 10% of homes there now sits at $1.13 million. Climb into the top 5% and that number jumps to nearly $1.87 million. At the very top, the top 1%, homes are trading for an average of $3.74 million.
Roughly 11.2% of Covington’s listings, or 82 homes, are currently priced above the million-dollar mark, the highest share on the Northshore. Mandeville trails close behind at 9.4%.
Part of the draw is geography. Covington sits along the Tchefuncte River, the Bogue Falaya River and Lake Pontchartrain itself, giving buyers waterfront access for boating and fishing that’s hard to find at these prices elsewhere.
A wave of high earning professionals has also settled in as medical employers like St. Tammany Parish and Ochsner continue to expand their footprint.
There’s a catch, though. Homeowners insurance in the region can swing wildly depending on a property’s age and how close it sits to a flood zone, something Smith flagged as a major factor for anyone eyeing a home near the water or in an older neighborhood.
The market’s roots go back generations. Covington has long served as a warm weather escape for well-heeled New Orleans families, and their old estates now sit shoulder to shoulder with sleek new construction.
One current listing captures that mix perfectly: a $3.2 million midcentury modern spread on the Tchefuncte River, set on 3.4 acres with a dock built to handle yachts up to 80 feet, a private boat lift and a detached garden house.
Another, a $4.5 million Colonial dating back to the 1860s, comes with white columns, a sprawling veranda, a tennis court, a pool and 2 acres of oak canopied grounds overlooking the Bogue Falaya.
Alexis R. Foster of 10/12 Properties, who has the $3.2 million listing, says the growth has outpaced what the parish was built to handle.
“Both residential and commercial has grown so much. The parish can’t keep up with the amount of people moving to the area,” Foster said.
Smith cautions that the eye-popping percentage gains are still concentrated in a narrow slice of the market.
“When we look at areas like Covington, the growth at the very top is high, but it’s still a narrow segment,” Smith said. “The parish overall has room to grow, particularly in areas like Folsom and Bush where land is still available and new supply can be added.”
Translation: this Louisiana land rush is just getting started.
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