Climate change

Home insurance going up … if you can even get it

by
Green Escrow | buyer regrets

As the country continues to face extreme weather events – from wildfires to hurricanes to floods to tornadoes to snowstorms (in the South!) – home insurance rates continue to soar. From 2020 to 2023, insurance costs have risen 33%, going from $1902/year to $2530/year.

And this assumes you can even get home insurance. More and more private insurers, such as State Farm, are pulling out of high-risk areas leaving homeowners with far fewer – and more expensive options.

In the short-term home buyers in high-risk areas face even steeper housing costs.

Safer from climate change disasters

by
wildfire destruction

It’s happening more and more with greater, often disastrous consequences: catastrophic hurricanes, wildfires, floods (and we’re not even including tornadoes in the list). While these obviously have very dire human consequences, they can can also seriously impact the housing market through home prices and home insurance rates.

While it’s difficult to rate any area as “safe” from climate disasters, there are areas where the risk is lower. The list below includes the percentage of homes that are thought to be the “lowest risk”.

  1. Akron, OH – 91.1%
  2. Cleveland, OH – 89.3%
  3. Seattle, WA – 88.4%
  4. Columbus, OH – 87.7%
  5. Cincinnati, OH – 87.7%
  6. Dayton, OH – 87.2%
  7. Indianapolis, IN – 86.9%
  8. Pittsburgh, PA – 84.7%
  9. Toledo, OH – 83.6%
  10. Grand Rapids, MI – 82.2%