Construction emerges from Katrina's shadow

Construction emerges from Katrina's shadow: "'The shock has worn off and people don't want to leave,' Jones said. 'At the start of June there was still some anxiety, but people are staying. Property values in Pascagoula are the highest they've been in a long time, and that's good.'

'I don't think the local housing market has really suffered, what there is of it,' Green said. 'People are buying; there's lots of sales of lots on the beach, (but) it's very difficult to find a decent house in Pascagoula for sale, the price has not dropped. We have faith that the market will go back.'

The boom in real estate sales has brought a corresponding increase in construction activity as contractors and home builders begin erecting new homes either on sites of former houses or on new land on the Coast or in the northern part of the county.

Numbers from the Jackson County Planning Department show that county officials have issued 254 permits for new homes since March 1. Pascagoula officials have issued 92 new home construction permits since Aug. 29, 2005, and Gautier officials have issued 51 permits for new homes and 12 for rebuilding hurricane-damaged homes, while Ocean Springs has issued 44 new permits since March."