Home sales and renovations up during the pandemic Home sales in Orleans, Jefferson parishes up By Kimberly Curth | January 5, 2021 at 4:24 PM CST - Updated January 5 at 10:20 PM NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Betsy Dienes had to cancel her wedding because of the pandemic. But, despite what proved to be an overwhelming year, she will tell you 2020 wasn’t all bad. “For us, our original plan was to start looking in 2021, but once COVID hit, we both started working from home, we were in a small rental Uptown and we just needed more space,” said Dienes. She and her now-husband postponed their wedding celebration, but moved up the next step, becoming first time home buyers.