OK. Here's the good news. I got great rates from GEICO

It's an ill wind, blada blada blada. And in Lafayette, where some N.O. firms have had to relocate, housing prices have soared. Good for sellers. For buyers, not so much.

Bacque said the free-market system in real estate also has driven home prices in the area to increase substantially. The average sale price for a home in September was $220,000, compared with $175,000 in September 2004, he said.