Survey: New Orleans area has lost 13 percent of housing stock since Katrina

N.O.’s post-Katrina housing stock down 13 percent

NEW ORLEANS — A government survey says the New Orleans metropolitan area has lost nearly 13 percent of its housing stock since Hurricane Katrina.

The survey results released Monday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development also found that the area’s median monthly cost of housing has risen by nearly 33 percent, from $662 in 2004 to $882 in 2009.

HUD says its 2009 survey is the most comprehensive analysis of the area’s housing stock since the 2005 hurricane.

The survey found that eight parishes in greater New Orleans have lost around 75,000 housing units since Katrina and currently have roughly 72,500 vacant housing units.