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Policygenius review: Compare quotes for car insurance, homeowners insurance, and more

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Most cars made today are equipped with some degree of advanced driver-assistance system, or <keyword id="2572482" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="ADAS">ADAS</keyword>.</li><li>Though ADAS-equipped cars are safer than ever, the sensors they use make them more expensive to repair when they crash.</li><li>But because ADAS technologies can significantly reduce claims rates, <keyword id="35490" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="car-insurance">car insurance</keyword> companies are willing to offer discounts of about 10% off premiums from a "typical safety package," said Kacie Saxer-Taulbee, a data scientist at insurance comparison shopping website <a href="https://insurify.com/">Insurify</a>.</li></ul>Today's cars come chock-full of advanced driver-assistance systems that help drivers avoid collisions and accidents. These systems have helped make modern cars safer than ever, but on the financial side have produced a mixed bag of savings and costs for drivers. Car insurance rates are where drivers can see the most difference, depending on how much onboard tech is available.Just taking a look at a modern car's ADAS options can be dizzying. As one example, the 2021 Genesis GV80, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/2021-genesis-gv80-review-price-specs-horsepower-interior-hyundai-suv-2020-10">a midsize luxury SUV which Business Insider just reviewed</a>, has an extensive list of driver-assist systems, one that's seemingly longer than luxury options on the car itself.The car comes with rear cross-traffic and collision-avoidance assist, blind-spot collision-avoidance assist, highway driving assist, and lane-following assist — all standard. The truly safety-obsessed can add on forward-attention warnings, surround-view monitoring, remote-smart parking assist, and blind spot monitoring.These lists keep getting longer as automakers realize that these safety technologies are increasingly important tools in the everlasting fight for customers.<h2>Lowering crash severity </h2>All that tech is proven to work, too.Swiss Re AG, which is the world's biggest car reinsurer, and HERE, a mapping company, said last year that ADAS could potentially cut down on the frequency of car accidents by up to 25%, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/subjects/autos/article/us-auto-selfdriving-insurance-focus/new-auto-safety-technology-leaves-insurers-in-the-dark-idUSKCN1UL165#:~:text=According%20to%20Swiss%20Re%20AG,by%20%2420%20billion%20by%202020.">Reuters</a>. This would reduce worldwide insurance premiums for fully ADAS-equipped cars "by $20 billion by 2020," they estimated. A <a href="https://www.iihs.org/media/259e5bbd-f859-42a7-bd54-3888f7a2d3ef/e9boUQ/Topics/ADVANCED%20DRIVER%20ASSISTANCE/IIHS-real-world-CA-benefits.pdf">study</a> by the Highway Loss Data Institute and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety supported that trend, finding that lane-departure warning systems reduced single-vehicle, sideswipe, and head-on crashes by 11% and injury crashes of the same types by 21%. Blindspot detection systems reduced lane-change crashes by 14% and backup cameras cut down on backing crashes by 17%.All of these things get factored in when car insurance companies determine a rate for you and your car. At a base level, these companies use algorithms to appraise the chances of a driver filing a claim and how much it'll cost if they do. "In the case of auto safety technologies, on the one hand, they lower both the likelihood and severity of a car crash," Kacie Saxer-Taulbee, a data scientist at insurance comparison shopping website <a href="https://insurify.com/">Insurify</a>, told Business Insider. <h2>High cost of repairs</h2>The news isn't all good: Those fancy sensors and systems aren't cheap to fix. Since many of a modern car's ADAS sensors are located in easily damaged places like bumpers, wing mirrors, and windshields, repairing even a mere fender-bender or a chipped windshield <a href="https://www.motorbiscuit.com/advanced-safety-features-are-driving-up-the-cost-of-car-repairs/">might not necessarily as simple or cheap fixes</a> as it once was. In 2018, <a href="https://www.i-car.com/s/">I-Car</a>, an automotive repair education non-profit, <a href="https://jalopnik.com/this-kia-costs-34-000-to-repair-and-its-not-alone-1829136318">projected</a> that a Kia K900 sedan could result in $34,000 in repairs thanks to a "left-front corner hit" because of all the sensors and cameras located in its bumper. The industry average then was $8,000. <a href="https://jalopnik.com/all-that-new-safety-tech-in-cars-makes-for-nightmarishl-1829992714">An AAA study</a> from later that year found that ADAS tech could increase the price of a repair bill by $3,000.In particular, a windshield repair is becoming quite complicated. Certain ADAS tech <a href="https://www.emcins.com/losscontrol/insights-d/2018/06/windshield-replacement/">puts sensors in a car's windshield or rear window</a>. When that happens, it's not as simple as just fixing a chip or a crack in the glass anymore. Instead, it can mean replacing expensive hardware and setting it up so it works again. Sometimes, a model might need a recalibration performed with a tank full of gas — to keep vehicle height consistent — or with a test drive "to very specific parameters," according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/business/windshield-repairs.html">The New York Times</a>. Others from Mercedes-Benz and Honda might need a static and dynamic recalibration, which could add "an hour or two of testing" on top of a normal fix, just to make sure all the sensors are communicating properly. In all, the Times ballparked a chipped or cracked windshield replacement on an ADAS-equipped car at around $1,600. AAA <a href="https://www.aaa.com/autorepair/articles/windshield-repair-and-replacement">estimated</a> an average windshield replacement to cost between $250 to $450. Last year, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-selfdriving-safety-insight/carmakers-and-repair-shops-clash-as-automation-upends-aftermarket-idUSKBN1X919G">Reuters</a> reported that because cars are getting more and more complicated to fix, many automakers are insisting that "only parts and repairs from their authorized dealers can ensure safety." This shuts out independent suppliers and mechanics, who usually can obtain parts and fix cars at a fraction of what a dealer would charge. <h2>An attractive insurance discount as a tradeoff</h2>Cars are much safer than they were just a few decades ago — and they're getting steadily better. And despite more expensive and complex repairs, this tech may ultimately save money as well as lives."In the end, though, these features are so effective at reducing claims that insurers offer an attractive discount for any car that has them," Saxer-Taulbee told Business Insider. "Most drivers can expect about a 2% to 3% discount per safety feature — or about 10% off of their premium from a typical safety package — which increasingly includes advanced features such as adaptive cruise control and blind-spot cameras."But as time goes on and insurance companies figure out how to better integrate ADAS technology into their quotes, you might be able to expect an even bigger discount."Since ADAS is still so new, many providers have not fully figured out how their efficacy varies across different auto manufacturers, drivers, and real-world driving scenarios," Saxer-Taulbee said. Once they do, they will be able to more accurately price driver's discounts (or lack thereof if safety features fail to live up to their hype)."

Advanced safety features can drop car insurance premiums by 10% — but they make repairs much more expensive

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The best way to get a good <keyword id="35450" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="insurance">insurance</keyword> rate for yourself is to shop around and do research, according to a data scientist at <keyword id="35490" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="car-insurance">car insurance</keyword> shopping comparison site, <a href="https://insurify.com/">Insurify</a>.</li><li>Buying an older, less flashy car and driving safely can also reduce your rate.</li><li>Mileage-based insurance is also available, but it's not always a great fit for everyone.</li></ul>Our current stay-at-home economy has created <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/average-prices-for-cars-increased-during-covid-19-over-demand-2020-8">a surge in demand for cars</a>. And those cars need to be insured. Shopping for insurance can seem like a daunting task at first. But like with most things, being thorough with your research and knowing how rates are determined can be a big help in saving money.<h2>How your rate is determined</h2>When determining your rate, an insurance company will take many things into consideration, including your gender, age, marital status, homeownership, where you live, your driving record, and even what kind of car you're trying to insure. Recently, <keyword id="10167269" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="insurify">Insurify</keyword> released a report that broke down how insurance rates are determined, the likelihood of getting a discount, and projections for car insurance next year. In creating the report, the team investigated more than 25 million rates from car-insurance applications in Insurify's database from last year. You can download the report in full <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ggi6O-sKdnl6Of_SBbuzPtySEneGz-XM/view">here</a>."Generally speaking, female drivers aged 25 to 65 pay the least for insurance," Kacie Saxer-Taulbee, a data scientist at insurance comparison shopping website <a href="https://insurify.com/">Insurify</a>, told Business Insider. But if you aren't a female driver or do not fall within that age range, there are still some actions you can take to lower your insurance rate. Buying an older and less flashy car will "reliably lower insurance premiums," Saxer-Taulbee said, as "insurance costs drop steadily as a car ages." Insurify found that cars made in the US tend to be more affordable to insure than foreign cars, perhaps because it costs more to find parts overseas. Additionally, vehicles that are more than 20 years old are the cheapest to insure. Using this knowledge, we can then reasonably deduce that a <a href="https://www.kbb.com/ford/windstar/2000/">2000 Ford Windstar</a> minivan would probably be pretty cheap to insure. If you're into those, of course. It's also worth pointing out that an older car might need more maintenance than a newer one, so factor that into your budget when making a decision.Another tip, which seems pretty straightforward, is to drive safely. Don't be reckless and get a ticket, because that will affect your rate. "Safe drivers save an average of nearly $300 a year on car insurance," Saxer-Taulbee said.The Insurify report found that minor violations (running a red light, failing to yield) can increase rates by 24%, intermediate violations (negligence, careless driving) can increase rates by 31%, and major violations (driving under the influence, reckless driving) can increase rates by 49%.<h2>Shop around</h2>"Nothing beats online comparison shopping for car insurance quotes," Saxer-Taulbee said. "The more companies a car owner can compare, the more likely they'll be able to find the best coverage for the lowest price."There are a few ways you can do this. The first is creating a list for yourself, where you get individual quotes from each insurance company and compare them all. Or you can use an insurance comparison tool, which lets you compare personalized insurance quotes. But regardless of how you shop for your insurance, Saxer-Taulbee recommended comparing insurance rates every six months to stay up to date on the best new deals. You can also make sure that your insurance agent is "independent and not captive to certain companies if [you] choose to use one."<h2>Mileage-based insurance</h2>It's not for everyone, but if you're someone who lives in a city and perhaps doesn't drive very often, now find yourself working from home, or your employment situation has changed so that you don't need to drive as often, you might want to check out mileage-based insurance.<a href="https://www.metromile.com/">Metromile</a> is one example of mileage-based car insurance, but <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/insurance/reviews/metromile-review/">NerdWallet</a> pointed out that most likely those who drive very little get the lower rates. It's available in Arizona, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington. Certain insurance companies such as Root, Allstate, Liberty Mutual, and Traveler's use a telematics device to track mileage. But, "these devices also monitor driver behavior, so car owners who speed or who are not as cautious behind the wheel may want to avoid this form of coverage," Saxer-Taulbee said. Everyone's situation is different. Hopefully, you'll be able to price out a rate that's good for you and your family.

3 key tips to help you shop for car insurance in a smart way

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Climate change is increasing the severity of natural disasters — and home insurance prices.</li><li>For those moving to a climate-risk state, there are some steps you can take to protect your home.</li></ul>Finding an affordable home in a red-hot real estate market is already a tremendous feat.And now, in addition to rapidly rising prices, home buyers are increasingly worried about another factor: climate change.According to Zillow, more than 80% of home buyers considered climate risks — including flood, wildfire, and hurricane — when shopping for a house.In particular, climate change complicates the homebuying process by sending <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-homeowners-insurance-premium-costs-crisis-skyrocketing-states-hurricanes-2024-10">home insurance premiums skyrocketing</a>. As storms and other natural disasters become more destructive, home insurance providers are raising rates or pulling out of certain states altogether, according to insurance company Insurify.According to Holden Lewis, a home insurance expert at NerdWallet, climate change is hitting states such as California, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska the hardest — and wildly disrupting these states' home insurance markets.If you're looking to purchase a house in these high-risk markets, here's what you need to know about rapidly rising home insurance rates.<h2 id="4ca151ec-b6df-44db-821b-3b925503bc08">How to navigate the insurance landscape when moving</h2>As climate change exacerbates the frequency and severity of natural disasters, homes are at higher risk of damage. Insurance companies in turn are raising prices to cover the higher costs of covering claims and reinsurance, or insurance for insurance companies.According to financial data firm Bankrate, the national average cost of home insurance is $2,285 a year for up to $300,000 of dwelling coverage. But in high climate-risk states such as Nebraska, Florida, and Oklahoma, average annual premiums range from $4,835 to $5,655.It might seem obvious, one step homebuyers can take to avoid surprises is consider home insurance costs early in the homebuying process, Lewis said. As insurance premiums increase, they can materially impact your monthly housing payments and push a home out of your affordability zone.Prospective buyers shopping for homes in a new state are especially prone to insurance sticker shock, according to Lewis. For example, if you're thinking of moving from Ohio to Texas, you might not be aware that the average homeowners insurance rate in cyclone-prone Texas is $3,916 a year — $2,600 more than in Ohio, Lewis pointed out.Still, climate-risk states remain popular. According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.uhaul.com/Articles/About/U-Haul-Announces-Top-Growth-States-Of-2023-30660/">U-Haul</a>, Texas and Florida received the highest influx of new residents in 2023.Many of these newcomers might not have done their homework on the home insurance market before moving to the state, according to Stephanie L., homeowner and lifelong Florida resident who asked not to use her full last name for privacy reasons.There's a lack of consumer awareness of the financial risk extreme weather brings, in Stephanie's opinion. "If you purchase a beautiful home on a river, you have to understand that with the way storms come in, you could be at risk," Stephanie told Business Insider in an interview.Even within climate-risk states, you can minimize your home's exposure to extreme weather and bring down insurance premiums by researching the local neighborhood.When Stephanie bought her house, she picked a location in the Jacksonville metropolitan area, which has less exposure to hurricane risk than other areas of the Sunshine state."We definitely looked for high and dry, not in a flood zone, and not in a hurricane evacuation zone," Stephanie said.Indeed, Jacksonville home insurance premiums are significantly lower than Florida's state average of $5,527, with homeowners paying an average of $2,705 a year for insurance according to Bankrate.Next, when it comes by a natural disaster, you want to ensure that the insurance policy can fully cover rebuilding costs. Many policies offer dwelling coverage limits in line with the market value of the house, but that's not always sufficient coverage, according to Lewis."The market value of the house the day before a fire or storm might be less than the actual cost to rebuild it to current building codes," Lewis said.For prospective homebuyers, Lewis recommends clarifying the dwelling coverage limit with the insurance agent and shopping around for available policies.Also important to note is that flood coverage often isn't included in standard homeowners insurance policies. This is an important consideration if you're looking to buy a house in an area prone to hurricanes."If water is rising, say from a river, or storm surge, then a standard homeowners policy will not cover that damage," Lewis said.Stephanie purchased flood insurance in addition to her regular homeowners insurance when she purchased a home."I also have a separate flood policy even though I'm not in a floodplain," she said. "When you're not in a flood zone, flood insurance is pretty affordable."Although Stephanie isn't at high risk for flooding, she still wants to be prepared for the worst. It's not a bad idea to go the extra mile and purchase extra insurance when it comes to buying a home in Florida, even if you're not directly in a flood zone.In addition to hurricane-prone Gulf Coast states, regions like western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and southern Virginia are flooding hotspots, according to Lewis.Lastly, homeowners also should consider how inflation will drive up home insurance costs, especially as concerns over inflation loom high in today's economy. An inflationary environment will increase the cost of building materials and construction, Lewis pointed out.As a result, it may be a good idea to review your coverage every year or two to evaluate the status of your coverage, Lewis said."Talk to the agent, maybe even talk to a general contractor just to find out, 'Hey, am I still covered? Do I still have enough coverage to pay to rebuild this home?'" Lewis suggested.For those considering buying a home in a state with high levels of climate risk, taking these precautions during the homebuying process can help you protect your investment.

Buying a home in one of these 9 climate-risk states? Here's how to deal with spiking home insurance rates from someone who lives in one

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida Thursday, leaving less damage than initially feared.</li><li>The storm, however, calls into focus residents' ongoing struggles with home insurance.</li></ul>Hurricane Helene, which the National Hurricane Center called "extremely dangerous," <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-helene-slams-florida-power-outages-flooding-2024-9">made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane</a> Thursday night but has since been downgraded to a tropical storm, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/live-blog/storm-helene-live-updates-rcna172973">NBC News reported</a>.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/09/27/hurricane-helene-tropical-storm-friday-live-updates/75405032007/">According to USA Today</a>, there have been at least 22 deaths reported in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina as of 12:40 p.m. Eastern time on Friday.About 950,000 million Floridians, 1 million Georgians, 1.2 million South Carolinians, and 750,000 North Carolinians were without power as of midday Friday, according to utilities-tracking website <a target="_blank" href="http://poweroutage.us">poweroutage.us</a>.While southeastern states are being hard hit on Friday afternoon, the damage and death toll in Florida is — so far — less than many feared. But the storm calls into focus an already difficult part of living in Florida: home insurance.As natural disasters become more commonplace due to the climate crisis, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/homeowners-california-florida-insurance-issues-natural-disasters-wildfires-hurricanes-2023-10">home insurance has become a major pain</a> for residents in states like hurricane-prone Florida and wildfire-plagued California.Florida was the fastest-growing state in 2022, according to Census population data, but some residents have since<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-housing-market-sales-weather-climate-change-retirement-pandemic-costs-2024-9"> started souring on the Sunshine State,</a> in part because of rising prices — including increasingly expensive insurance premiums.The typical Florida household paid over $10,000 for home insurance in 2023, according to<a target="_blank" href="https://insurify.com/homeowners-insurance/florida/#:~:text=The%20average%20home%20insurance%20cost%20for%20Florida,include%20Travelers%2C%20Nationwide%2C%20and%20Security%20First%20Insurance."> data</a> from Insurify, and property insurance costs are rising at the<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/real-estate-prices-drop-florida-texas-violent-weather-insurance-costs-2024-8"> fastest rate</a> in 20 years, according to Capital Economics.Multiple home insurance providers have left the state entirely, and longtime Floridians have started to get priced out of coastal towns. The extreme weather patterns are driving <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-insurance-hurricanes-extreme-weather-relocate-to-ocala-2023-10">some to relocate to the center of the state</a> — or even out of state — in an effort to avoid storms and the insurance premiums they drive up.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-homeowners-insurance-rising-costs-moving-to-wisconsin-2023-9">John and Natalia</a> moved to Dell Prairie, Wisconsin, from Plantation, Florida, just west of Fort Lauderdale, when their home insurance doubled to $12,000 a year after they replaced their roof."Before the roof, we paid about $6,000 for our insurance premium," John told Business Insider in 2023."But our premium still doubled from the year before," Natalia added. "Before we left, we were paying $12,000 for insurance."Helene comes just one year after Hurricane Idalia sparked massive damage across Florida's panhandle. Hurricanes today are<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-hurricanes-why-storms-are-wetter-stronger-slower-2019-7"> stronger, slower, and wetter</a> because of rising temperatures.The high cost of home insurance sometimes prompts people to go without it.According to an analysis of US Census data by NBC News, around 18% of homeowners in Florida are without home insurance.In some of the more populous counties in Florida, like Miami-Dade County and Broward County, 24.6% and 21.7% of homeowners, respectively, don't have insurance. In Leon County, where Tallahassee, the capital, is located, 13.8% of homeowners are without insurance — but there are about 460,000 fewer homeowners there than in Miami-Dade County.The amount of damage a storm causes typically affects insurance premiums. The more damage, the more likely premiums will rise at renewal. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/catastrophe/insurers-brace-for-up-to-15-billion-in-losses-if-helene-hits-tallahassee-507530.aspx">Insurance Business</a> reported on Friday that if Helene made landfall near Tallahassee, insurers could lose up to $15 billion. (While it did make landfall in the area, local news reported Friday that Florida's capital <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.wtxl.com/news/local-news/in-your-neighborhood/emergency-operations-center-hurricane-helene-sept-27-2024">did not suffer a direct hit</a>.)The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation estimated Hurricane Idalia — which made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 in 2023 — totaled more than $309.5 million in losses.Helene, which mostly affected the northwestern part of Florida, may end up causing less damage than feared because there are fewer people in the panhandle."This looks like it will not be a large loss event for Florida insurers," Mark Friedlander, a spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute, an insurance information organization, told <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tampabay.com/hurricane/2024/09/26/florida-hurricane-helene-storm-insurance-losses-desantis/">the Tampa Bay Times</a>.

Hurricane Helene was less horrific than Floridians feared. But Sunshine State homeowners still face an insurance crisis.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Two hurricanes hit Florida in recent weeks, exacerbating a home insurance crisis in the state.</li><li>Insurance experts said the back-to-back hurricanes could signal rising insurance rates nationwide.</li></ul>Two back-to-back hurricanes in Florida in recent weeks will likely raise <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-real-estate-worth-it-home-prices-insurance-hurricane-helene-2024-10">home insurance rates</a> even higher in a state that is already grappling with prices nearly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/01/business/florida-homeowner-insurance-rates/index.html">four times</a> the national average, insurance experts told Business Insider."Florida represents an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-milton-category-four-storm-real-estate-market-insurance-damages-2024-10">outsize amount of risk</a> compared to other areas of the world," Kyle Ulrich, president and CEO of the Florida Association of Insurance Agents, told BI. "And we pay commensurately for it."But it's not just Florida.The compounding financial crises of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-helene-milton-tampa-florida-desantis-clean-disaster-dangerous-2024-10">Hurricane Helene</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-milton-landfall-florida-housing-market-insurance-fema-2024-10">Hurricane Milton</a> could also point to looming hikes in insurance rates nationwide, the home insurance experts said. They pointed to the recent Florida storms as examples of the increasingly severe and frequent climate catastrophes wreaking havoc on the global insurance market.<h2 id="25940b76-9ef6-4385-94a3-eb8903a79169">Florida's battered home insurance market</h2>Home insurance rates are <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-its-expensive-to-own-a-home-mortgage-insurance-interest2024-4">up across the board</a> in recent years due to a combination of natural disasters and inflation, according to a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://insurify.com/homeowners-insurance/report/home-insurance-price-projections/">recent report</a> from insurance comparison shopping site Insurify. Between 2021 and 2023, overall home insurance costs rose nearly 20%, the report found.And, for mortgaged single-family residences specifically, the average monthly property insurance payment has increased 52% nationally since 2019, according to a 2024 <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://static.icemortgagetechnology.com/pdf/ICE_Mortgage-Monitor-Report-October-2024.pdf">mortgage report</a> from financial services company Intercontinental Exchange.That number is even higher in regions more at risk of environmental disasters. California has seen <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/homeowners-california-florida-insurance-issues-natural-disasters-wildfires-hurricanes-2023-10">several top home insurance agencies</a> pull out or limit their business in the state amid a growing risk of destructive wildfires, while tornado-prone states such as Illinois and Arkansas have seen an uptick in premiums as cyclones become more frequent, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/storms-homeowners-insurance-oklahoma-texas-tornado/">according to CBS News</a>."Certainly, areas that are chronically hit by storms, you're seeing either rates increase or insurers pull out completely," Jeffrey Schlegelmilch, a research scholar and director at Columbia Climate School's National Center for Disaster Preparedness, told Business Insider.But nowhere in the country is the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-home-insurance-prices-premium-effect-from-hurricanes-2024-9">home insurance crisis</a> more acute than in Florida. The state has, in recent years, been battered by a wave of costly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-ian-photos-videos-destruction-in-florida-2022-9">hurricanes</a>, seen an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-are-people-moving-florida-home-prices-cost-of-living-2023-12#:~:text=Florida's%20population%20jumped%20by%201.9,growing%20state%20in%20the%20country.">influx of new residents</a>, and dealt with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.renaissanceins.com/blog/florida-personal-lines-crisis/">fraud</a> over the state's assignment-of-benefits loophole, said Oscar Miniet, regional executive vice president, Southeast for Renaissance, a nationwide network of independent insurance agencies.Miniet said the number of insurers willing to write policies in parts of the state most exposed to hurricanes is shrinking, primarily because the potential risk outweighs the possible financial reward. Meanwhile, those that have stuck around, he added, have implemented extremely tight underwriting practices, which leads to homeowners paying far more in premiums, especially in at-risk areas.Florida cities like Deltona, Jacksonville, and Cape Coral saw the average property insurance payment for mortgaged single-family residences skyrocket 90%, 86%, and 85%, respectively, since 2019, according to an analysis by financial services company Intercontinental Exchange.Tampa — which sustained severe <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-milton-flooding-damage-photos-2024-10#winds-of-up-to-120-mph-ripped-through-the-state-shredding-the-roof-of-tropicana-field-home-of-the-tampa-bay-rays-baseball-team-8">wind damage when Milton</a> landed near Sarasota on Wednesday evening and a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-helene-milton-tampa-florida-desantis-clean-disaster-dangerous-2024-10">deadly storm surge when Helene</a> touched down last month — has seen insurance payments go up 71% since 2019, Intercontinental Exchange found.And Helene and Milton are likely to make matters even worse for Florida homeowners, the insurance experts said.The majority of Helene's damage in the state was flooding-related, which isn't included in most home insurance policies. But Helene also caused wind damage and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-homeowner-milton-tearing-through-neighborhood-cant-sleep-2024-10">Hurricane Milton's gusts</a> were fierce enough to tear the roof off Tampa's Tropicana Field and spawn several tornadoes that tore through Central Florida. Unlike flooding, wind damage is typically covered by home insurance."That is clearly going to have an impact on premiums in the state, said Shahid Hamid, a finance professor at Florida International University and director of the school's Hurricane Research Center's Laboratory for Insurance, Financial and Economic Research. "They're going to go up quite significantly."<h2 id="66cc80ec-e36b-4d1c-9df6-0fbbad2a8fb5">Increased home insurance prices nationwide</h2>While Floridians will bear the brunt of Helene and Milton's insurance-related pains, homeowners across the country could also soon feel the pain in their pocketbook thanks to the recent storms and other climate disasters like them.Milton and Helene are one-time events, but storms like them can end up <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/soaring-home-car-insurance-rates-hurting-americans-finances-us-economy-2023-11">impacting the larger insurance industry</a>, said Jeremy Porter, the head of climate implications research at climate risk evaluation company First Street."When insurance costs get increased, they get increased not only in the places where we're seeing the exposure but they get increased across the industry," he told Business Insider.Large insurance companies such as Allstate or State Farm typically take major losses after big storms and, as a result, need to find ways to make up for those loss payouts, Porter said."So you're going to end up seeing people in Kentucky and Idaho and other places that just aren't anywhere near this event that may see a spike, an increase in their insurance costs, just due to the company's overhead and the additional payouts that they're having to make given climate risk in other areas," Porter said.But the primary reason homeowners around the country could see their rates rise post-hurricane season is thanks to the global reinsurance market, three insurance experts said.The reinsurance market, with hubs in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lloyds-london-firms-face-billions-claims-baltimore-bridge-collapse-2024-3">London</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.abir.bm/why-bermuda/">Bermuda</a>, is where insurance companies can offload some of their risk to a reinsurance company — a kind of insurance company for insurance companies.An uptick in reinsurance rates in recent years has been a driving force behind climbing insurance rates nationwide, said Kyle Ulrich, president and CEO of the Florida Association of Insurance Agents.Reinsurance rates are determined by worldwide losses, and when prices increase, insurance companies pass financial responsibility to customers who end up paying higher premiums, Hamid said.Those increases are, in part, because of climate change. The global reinsurance market has to assess risk against catastrophic events around the globe, from hurricanes in Florida to tsunamis in Japan, Ulrich said.But as catastrophic climate events become more common worldwide, homeowners everywhere are bearing the risk."There used to be five storms a year. Now there are 30 storms a year. There used to be one strong one and nine weak ones. Now there are nine strong ones and one weak one," said Oscar Seikaly, CEO of NSI Insurance Group, one of the largest privately owned insurance firms in Florida. "So the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-milton-helene-economy-gdp-damage-cost-rebuilding-florida-climate-2024-10">frequency and severity</a> have been the factors that set the reinsurance industry off guard and put them in panic mode a bit."With Hurricanes Helen and Milton shaping up to be massive loss events, reinsurers could be on the hook for paying out billions of dollars of claims, which would, in turn, shrink the reinsurance industry's capacity to supply capital when it comes time to renew contracts next year, thus driving up premiums in the primary market, Yanjun (Penny) Liao, an economist and fellow at nonprofit research institute Resources for the Future, said."Because primary insurers rely on reinsurance everywhere, this could happen even in places that are not hit," Liao added.

Back-to-back Florida hurricanes signal trouble for home insurance prices nationwide

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Residents say it's becoming a lot harder to enjoy living in Florida. </li><li>Among the pandemic's hottest markets, the Sunshine State is increasingly expensive, hot, and crowded. </li></ul>Cindy, a 50-year-old small-business owner who's lived in Florida for most of her life, says she and her husband are starting to sour on life in the Sunshine state. The summers are extremely <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moving-to-north-carolina-from-florida-climate-crisis-2023-8">hot and muggy</a>, prices have climbed, and the crowds have gotten worse, she said. Cindy noted that the commute from her suburban area to downtown Tampa has more than doubled over the past few years.Now, with most of their adult children out of the house, she and her husband are seriously considering packing their bags and moving out of state. More than likely, they'll be gone within the next 10 years, she said, adding that her business was one of the last remaining things that kept her tied to the area."It's funny. I know most people retire to Florida, but we're hoping to retire away from Florida," she told Business Insider.Cindy's experience isn't actually all that unique. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-are-people-moving-florida-home-prices-cost-of-living-2023-12">Florida was one of the epicenters</a> of the pandemic's great migration, but while crowds of people are trying to settle into places like Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville, many Floridians want to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moving-to-leaving-florida-reasons-home-prices-affordability-weather-2023-11">dump their homes</a> and get out.The exodus is mainly being driven by higher housing costs, a higher cost of living, and souring attitudes toward the influx of people who moved to Florida in recent years. Those factors combined are making daily life in the state way more difficult, current and former Florida residents said.While 730,000 people moved to Florida during 2021 and 2022, nearly half a million people left, according to US Census data.The state, meanwhile, just lost its status as the most moved-to region this year, according to an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.pods.com/blog/moving-trends">analysis</a> conducted by the Florida-based moving service PODS. South Florida, in particular, ranked among the regions people were most keen to move out of, the report said.Waning enthusiasm for the state is evident in housing activity, which has fallen from its pandemic highs. The number of homes for sale in Florida has soared 42% compared to levels last year, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.redfin.com/state/Florida/housing-market">Redfin</a>.Many people looking to sell add that they're looking to leave the county, or possibly move out of state, according to Rafael Corrales, a Redfin agent based in Miami.Buyers are also getting cold feet. In Orlando, Jacksonville, and Tampa — three metros that boomed during the pandemic — 21% of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-housing-market-outlook-nightmare-home-prices-mortgage-rates-affordability-2024-7">home purchase agreements fell through</a> in June, Redfin data shows."They're just being a little more cautious now," Corrales said, pointing to affordability concerns. "There's issues that were normally acceptable for a buyer, they're no longer acceptable anymore because it's money and it's a lot of money."Kevin, a 36-year-old software engineer, is among the sellers who recently left. He and his wife traded their life in St. Pete, Florida to move to Seattle about a year ago. They have no regrets, and never plan on moving back to the state, he told BI."If you would have called me five years ago, I would have vastly different answers to this," Kevin said. "The cost of living hadn't gone up and just the past five, six years, it's gotten crazy down there. I used to love Florida five years ago. I never imagined leaving Florida, but things have changed."<h2 id="14bd5ed1-f1a4-44dc-b8cb-afc8c6739964">Temperature change</h2>Attitudes appear to be different than even just a few years ago, when pandemic transplants altered the state's reputation as more than just America's biggest retirement destination. Bill McBride notes that booms and busts are part of the housing cycle, and the housing forecaster thinks some areas of Florida could see an exodus of people in the coming decade.While people were likely attracted to Florida for its balmy weather and cheaper housing relative to expensive cities like New York, homeowners in the state are feeling exhausted by extreme weather, which is pushing up the cost of homeowners insurance and homeowner association fees, McBride told BI.More than three quarters of homeowners in Florida said their <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.redfin.com/news/home-insurance-survey-report-2024/">home insurance premiums have risen</a> in the past year, according to a Redfin survey. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/real-estate-prices-drop-florida-texas-violent-weather-insurance-costs-2024-8">Property insurance costs in the state are rising at the fastest pace</a> in 20 years, according to Capital Economics.According to Cindy, her home insurance costs around $8,000 a year. That's actually better than the state average, with the typical household paying over $10,000 for home insurance in 2023, according to data from <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://insurify.com/homeowners-insurance/florida/#:~:text=The%20average%20home%20insurance%20cost%20for%20Florida,include%20Travelers%2C%20Nationwide%2C%20and%20Security%20First%20Insurance.">Insurify</a>."It's insane. It's craziness how much more we're paying for homeowners' insurance, and I think that's pretty common across the whole state right now. Everyone is having issues with that," she said.The cost of living has also risen, in part due to rising housing costs and more people living in the city. Consumer prices in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach areas of Florida are <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CUURA320SA0">up around 30%</a> since February 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Prices in Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater areas, meanwhile, are <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CUUSA321SA0">up 25% since the pandemic</a>.Home prices have accounted for a big portion of that increase. The median home in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.redfin.com/state/Florida/housing-market">Florida</a> now costs $409,700, up by about 55% from the median house price recorded in February 2023, Redfin data shows."I think one of the main draws of Florida has always been that it's cheaper," Darryl Fairweather, the chief economist of Redfin, said, pointing to the wave of newcomers who flooded in from high-cost areas, like New York and Washington DC."Eventually the affordability just becomes so bad that people can't put up with it anymore."The hoards of people who moved to Florida during the pandemic are part of the problem, Kevin and Cindy said, describing a more tense political climate and increased violence in some areas.Florida saw an increase in most types of offenses in 2023 compared to the prior year. Simple assaults shot up 66% compared to 2021, while aggravated assaults jumped 65%, according to data from the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.fdle.state.fl.us/CJAB/FIBRS">Florida Department of Law Enforcement</a>."So it was probably 2020 that I was like, yeah, time to go get out of here," Kevin said.Florida will probably still be attractive to some older people, who are flush with cash and are not as concerned by the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, McBride and Fairweather say.But for the most part, McBride expects people to begin turning away from and also leaving the Sunshine State. Some communities near Florida's coastline could become "ghost towns" in as soon as 50 years, he speculated, as climate change will make them uninhabitable.The state probably won't be considered a retirement haven by the time millennials exit the workforce, Fairweather added."Will it still attract people? I think so," McBride said. "[But] I wouldn't live there."

Why people are souring on one of the country's hottest housing markets     

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Some Florida homeowners are reevaluating their costs and comfort with risk post-Hurricane Helene.</li><li>One seller near St. Petersburg slashed the asking price on their home, which was flooded, by 40%.</li></ul>Days after <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/before-after-satellite-photos-hurricane-helene-destruction-florida-2024-10">Hurricane Helene devastated Florida</a> and four other states, Compass real-estate agent Alexis Smith-Frady is picking up the pieces in her own home.More than three feet of water flooded her 1,400-square-foot bungalow in Bradenton, she said, adding that a FEMA inspector who visited deemed it unhabitable. Now, she's bouncing between hotels until she figures out a more permanent solution."We have kind of a two-level house — it's not a two-story, but there are two levels," Smith-Frady told Business Insider. "The top level was spared last year with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-idalia-first-severe-hurricane-hit-florida-big-bend-2023-8">Idalia</a>, and then this year it got our entire house."She said she did not have flood insurance for the first 11 years she lived there but now has flood and hazard insurance that costs her about $7,000 a year. By contrast, Smith-Frady added, she owns a cabin in North Carolina where the insurance bill is about $700 a year.She's not sure whether to repair the existing home or start from scratch."If we fix our home, it's going to be a three- to six-month process," Smith-Frady said."But if we build, it will probably be closer to 18 months because there's going to be quite a few people trying to do the same thing," she added.Hurricane Helene caused $30.5 billion to $47.5 billion in wind and flood damage across 16 states, CoreLogic estimated. The real-estate data firm expects the National Flood Insurance Program to provide about $4.5 to $6.5 billion of insurance to homeowners across Florida and the southeastern US — including in parts of Florida that haven't experienced a hurricane like this in a while.Smith-Frady lives inland, and while her home is on a river and susceptible to flooding, the southwest part of Florida is usually spared significant destruction from hurricanes. The last <a target="_blank" href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/weather/hurricane/article293362924.html">major hurricane to hit the Tampa Bay area</a>, where Sarasota is, was in 1921.It's a harsh reality that many Florida homeowners may face the effects of hurricanes or flooding at some point — and they're reminded of it often when their <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-home-insurance-prices-premium-effect-from-hurricanes-2024-9">flood or home insurance bill is due</a>. Florida is the most at-risk state for hurricanes, with nearly one out of every three homes — a total of 3 million — susceptible to storm-surge flooding, according to a hurricane risk model by insurance software company Guidewire.Hurricanes haven't significantly affected Florida home prices, real-estate data experts told Business Insider this week, and the Sunshine State is still <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-are-people-moving-florida-home-prices-cost-of-living-2023-12">one of the most popular states to move to</a>.However, real-estate agents on the ground are still unsure what will happen next. Increasing chances of natural disasters and flooding coupled with high insurance bills and homes that remain relatively expensive can make homeownership in Florida a pricey — and risky — proposition. A few residents want out, local brokers said, while others are aware of the costs and plan to stay put.<h2 id="804c3e90-9d9e-442d-a9a2-deff25851676">The cost of insurance is making some home sellers lower their asking prices</h2>On September 27, the morning after Helene tore through the city of St. Petersburg, real-estate agent Katie Mallah received a call from a client with a recently-listed three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in the Shore Acres neighborhood, a collection of man-made islands. They asked Mallah to slash the asking price of their house, which had sustained nearly three feet of water damage."They wanted to get out," Mallah told Business Insider. "They said, 'We'll demo everything, but we want to price it to just get out. So come up with that number.'"<div type="image" title="A pile of debris including a broken piano and dresser sits outside a damaged Florida home" height="2016" width="1512" msid="113985318" hostid="261" sizebytes="750054"></div>Mallah chopped the listing price by 40%, lowering it from $375,000 to $225,000. Within hours, she said, she was inundated with about 25 calls and 50 text messages from investors interested in tearing down the home and building a new one.Mallah set a Tuesday deadline for all offers, just five days after the storm.Part of the seller's rush, Mallah said, was the chilling effect rising insurance premiums are having on this segment of the market. Luxury buyers might be able to brush off the increased cost, she added, but for buyers of homes under $500,000, it's becoming a "deal killer." Mallah's client didn't want to sit around and wait.Compass agent Heather Cameron is representing a $474,900 home for sale near a canal in Tampa that was also affected by the hurricane."It's not a super expensive property, but the owner has spent $60,000 in the last few years on flood insurance, and that home got flooded during the storm," Cameron told BI.She said that the owners are still waiting to see how much their insurance will cover, but they are considering offering potential buyers a credit that would cover flood insurance for a year."That home has been on the market for a little bit," Cameron said. "The price point that it is — with what the flood insurance costs — makes it kind of an affordable house for most buyers in that price range."<div type="image" title="Piles of debris outside suburban Florida homes after a hurricane" height="1028" width="1290" msid="113985316" hostid="261" sizebytes="78582"></div>Floridians face some challenges securing insurance. Major providers like Farmers Insurance and Bankers Insurance have <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-condo-owners-prices-drop-insurance-hoa-taxes-increase-2023-3">pulled out of the state in recent years</a>, and under new FEMA guidelines premiums in some parts of the state are expected to rise by over 300% in coming years, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/climate-change/article275058126.html">according to the Miami Herald.</a>In May 2024, the average cost of flood insurance in Florida was $781 a year, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/insurance/flood-insurance-florida">according to personal-finance company NerdWallet.</a> Many homewoners also buy home insurance: The typical Florida household paid over $10,000 for home insurance in 2023, according to<a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" href="https://insurify.com/homeowners-insurance/florida/#:~:text=The%20average%20home%20insurance%20cost%20for%20Florida,include%20Travelers%2C%20Nationwide%2C%20and%20Security%20First%20Insurance."> data</a> from Insurify, and Capital Economics found those premiums are rising at the<a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/real-estate-prices-drop-florida-texas-violent-weather-insurance-costs-2024-8"> fastest rate</a> in 20 years.Palm Beach agent Holly Meyer Lucas said many homeowners who aren't required to purchase flood insurance choose to go without it."So many homeowners have dropped flood insurance or whittled their own insurance down to the absolute minimum," Meyer Lucas told Business Insider.This creates a particularly thorny situation as flood and wind insurance are often separate policies, Meyer Lucas pointed out. So, if a homeowner lives outside traditional flood zones, they may forgo specific flood protection, but still pay for wind and homeowners insurance. But when they are hit with a historic storm surge like Helene, it becomes difficult to separate what was solely water damage."It basically makes the home a total loss if they don't have flood insurance," Meyer Lucas said.Meyer Lucas anticipates more situations where fed-up Florida homeowners, who may have more equity in their homes than cash to repair, choose to cut their losses and sell as quickly as possible."We're going to see a lot of people needing to sell their homes because they can't afford the remediation," she said.<h2 id="2f2622ff-1172-4fa1-895b-3e6961ccf239">It's hard to predict if Helene will sink home prices — homebuyers still love Florida</h2>Even with the risks, multiple experts told Business Insider it's hard to say whether real-estate prices will immediately falter in the Sunshine State."We have not seen an event, even one like Hurricane Ian, that has had an industry-shifting effect on the real-estate market," Jon Schneyer, the catastrophe response director at data firm CoreLogic, told Business Insider.It's true that some people may leave. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/st-petersburg-florida-homeowners-hurricane-insurance-cost-4bc92822">The Wall Street Journal reported</a> that many homeowners in Shore Acres, Florida, a coastal town six miles outside St. Petersburg, want to sell to escape the flooding. And some of the most dire forecasters predict that sell-offs like this could bring down property prices.Cameron told BI that Shore Acres was known for flooding before Helene, and while she can see more inland properties, which are not in flood zones, increase in price, many people prefer to rebuild or move locally rather than leave the state entirely."I think the people really want to live here," she said. "And I think the demand is still going to be very high to live here in Tampa, St. Pete, and Sarasota."Still, some experts believe risks haven't been properly baked into home prices, resulting in a $50.2 billion overvaluation in Florida's housing market, according to a <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=534a29e6991e74122e1032ab20dc489d4d6309a5eb455e3dba170ab18d8271ec&amp;postID=66fda877e5b540830042d828&amp;postSlug=florida-real-estate-worth-it-home-prices-insurance-hurricane-helene-2024-10&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41558-023-01594-8">recent study</a> published in Nature."In many parts of the US — and particularly coastal counties, but also in parts of Appalachia as well — housing markets are not efficiently pricing flood risk into home values and that's causing this housing bubble to occur," Jesse Gourevitch, one of the study's authors and an economist at the Environmental Defense Fund, told Business Insider. "In Florida, there's really high flood risk, which I think is broadly understood, but that the cost associated with that flood risk is not being captured in home values."Instead, there may be "localized downsizings" as certain areas develop a stigma after particularly bad storms, explains Ryan D'Amario, a vice president of personal lines property underwriting at insurance analytics firm Verisk. But predicting exactly when and where an extreme weather event is likely to happen is so "broad and wide" that many homeowners are likely to continue with business as usual."The storms are happening so diversely in so many different areas of the state," D'Amario told Business Insider. "The demand will always be present."Smith-Frady, the real-estate agent whose Bradenton home flooded, said part of living in Florida is understanding the tradeoff between risk and reward."We live in a great place — it's wonderful," Smith-Frady said. "We haven't had a storm surge on this part of the Gulf Coast in over 100 years. It's easy for generations to forget that you're susceptible to that. But the reality is that that is the risk that we take by living on the coast."

Owning a home in Florida is a huge gamble. Some people are starting to question whether it's worth it.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Homeownership is becoming less attainable because of high mortgage rates and insurance costs.</li><li>The climate crisis is triggering insurance price hikes, as insurers anticipate more damage payouts.</li></ul>Aspiring homeowners might be out of luck this year — and high mortgage rates are <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/soaring-home-car-insurance-rates-hurting-americans-finances-us-economy-2023-11">only part of the problem</a>.Rising insurance costs could keep homeownership out of reach for many. An April analysis from personal finance company <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/insurance/average-homeowners-insurance-cost">Nerdwallet</a> shows just how dire the situation is: Homeowners are now spending between $500 and $5,500 a year on insurance, depending on where they live.According to the insurance comparison shopping site <a target="_blank" href="https://insurify.com/homeowners-insurance/report/home-insurance-price-projections/">Insurify</a>, overall home insurance costs have risen about 20% in the past two years and have the potential to rise another 6% in 2024.As the economy recovers from the pandemic, the Federal Reserve has been working to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inflation-cpi-food-energy-gas-prices-consumer-price-index-2024-4">fight inflation</a> by raising interest rates, a strategy that has had a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-do-interest-rate-hikes-impact-housing-market-rent-mortgages-2024-3">freezing effect</a> on much of the housing market. Steep rates — which jumped to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/economy/housing/home-sales-mortgage-rates-march-report-4a501537">7.1% for 30-year fixed-rate </a>mortgages on April 18 — have made current homeowners <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/real-estate-housing-market-home-prices-mortgage-rates-home-affordability-2024-4">less likely to sell</a> and contributed to an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-market-outlook-shortage-home-prices-mortgage-rates-real-estate-2024-1">ongoing shortage of affordable housing</a>.Adding to that, as the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-climate-change-crisis-extreme-weather-is-costing-you-2023-9">climate crisis escalates</a>, it's likely homeowners insurance will only become more expensive. Destructive weather events are becoming <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/extreme-weather-events-nyc-whiplash-big-blizzard-snow-storm-2024-2">more intense and more frequent</a>, meaning insurers expect to pay out more damages, per <a target="_blank" href="https://insurify.com/homeowners-insurance/report/home-insurance-price-projections/">Insurify</a>.<h2>The climate crisis is causing homeowners' insurance costs to rise</h2>The average American homeowner pays $1,915 a year in insurance costs — about $160 a month — per <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/insurance/average-homeowners-insurance-cost">NerdWallet</a>. Insurance is an inevitable monthly budget item: It is often required by mortgage lenders or state governments.This cost is just an estimate and can vary greatly depending on the size or location of a home. For instance, insurance rates increase in states with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cost-of-home-insurance-skyrocketing-crushing-homeowners-wildfires-flooding-storms-2023-8">more severe natural disasters</a>. In tornado-prone Oklahoma, for example, that annual cost jumps to $5,495 a year.Major insurer <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/state-farm-homeowners-insurance-california-premiums/">State Farm announced</a> last year that it will stop insuring new homeowners in California as the state faces risks of earthquakes, wildfires, and heat waves. Allstate has also <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/04/business/allstate-insurance-california.html">limited coverage</a> in the state.Since 1980, there have been <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-climate-change-crisis-extreme-weather-is-costing-you-2023-9">over 370 individual weather and climate disasters</a> in the US that topped $1 billion in damage. About 130 of those events — storms, wildfires, floods, and extreme temperatures — happened in the last decade.The property insurance industry lost nearly $26 billion in 2022, according to the most recent <a target="_blank" href="https://www.apci.org/attachment/static/9065">American Property Casualty Insurance Association</a> data. To make up for losses, many companies are raising premiums.Laura Longero, executive editor of insurance at the marketing firm QuinStreet, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-lower-your-car-insurance-rates-climate-change-inflation-2024-3">previously told Business Insider </a>that she predicts costs will only go up for residents in high-disaster areas."Where people are going to end up living is going to determine how much they pay for a lot of things," she said. "If you're on the coast of California, Florida, or Texas, there are these more adverse weather events that are happening — those are going to affect homeowners rates."This phenomenon is mirrored in car insurance prices, which have hit a 50-year high. The <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2024/consumer-price-index-2023-in-review.htm">US Bureau of Labor Statistics</a> reported that vehicle insurance costs were 20.3% higher in December 2023 than in December 2022, leading to higher premiums and deductibles for drivers.<h2>Some Americans are choosing to rent or move due to high homeownership costs</h2>Even as insurance rates continue to climb and price out some homeowners, other Americans are finding alternative ways to afford housing.Some Gen Zers and millennials are still <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-millennials-more-optimistic-about-buying-home-inflation-2024-1">feeling optimistic</a> about buying a home when inflation rates cool, while others are choosing to forgo expensive homeownership and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-housing-market-prices-locked-out-renovating-rental-apartments-2024-4">renovate their rentals</a> instead.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rental-market-housing-affordability-real-estate-apartments-2024-1">Rental prices</a> are also rising in the US — by about 30% in the past five years, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/rental-market-trends#:~:text=Rent%20prices%20are%20now%2030,housing%20prices%20drop%20in%202024%3F">per NerdWallet</a> — but rental insurance <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/average-cost-renters-insurance">is far more affordable</a> than it is for homeowners.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/van-life-road-trip-convinced-nomadic-lifestyle-is-for-me-2024-3">Van life</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/digital-nomad-lifestyle-lessons-drawbacks-challenges-2023-8">digital nomad living</a> became especially popular during the pandemic, as some Americans chose to travel and work remotely instead of owning a home. In some cases, homeowners in high-climate-risk areas like Florida have also chosen to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-homeowners-insurance-rising-costs-moving-to-wisconsin-2023-9">sell their houses and relocate</a>.Are you a homeowner paying a lot for insurance? Have you chosen to rent or move because of homeownership costs? Reach out to this reporter at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:allisonkelly@businessinsider.com">allisonkelly@businessinsider.com</a>.

The growing reason people can't afford to own a home

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Rising home values in recent years have helped many millennials boost their wealth. </li><li>But an investing expert says Gen Z might not be so lucky. </li></ul>Homeownership is helping some <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-saw-wealth-grow-double-during-pandemic-2024-4">millennials get rich</a> — but Gen Zers might have a hard time following in their footsteps.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.redfin.com/news/homeownership-rate-by-generation-2023/">About 55%</a> of millennials owned a home as of 2023, per a Redfin analysis of Current Population Survey data. Many of them became homeowners before <a target="_blank" href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUS">home prices</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MORTGAGE30US">mortgage rates</a> spiked in 2021 and 2022.As buying a home reached <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/house-price-outlook-homes-unaffordable-real-estate-economy-goldman-sachs-2023-10">record unaffordability levels</a> in recent years, these millennials kept getting richer on paper due to their rising home values. According to Federal Reserve data, millennials held $3.5 trillion in real estate wealth as of the fourth quarter of 2019. In the first quarter of 2024, this more than doubled to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/dfa/distribute/chart/#quarter:137;series:Real%20estate;demographic:generation;population:7;units:levels;range:2008.4,2024.1">$8.6 trillion</a>.Some Gen Zers managed to get in on the fun — about a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.redfin.com/news/homeownership-rate-by-generation-2023/">quarter</a> of Gen Zers between the ages of 19 and 26 owned a home as of 2023, per Redfin. But the majority who didn't purchase a home could have a much harder time growing their wealth through home ownership in the years to come, Dr. Roger Silk, a former treasury officer at the World Bank and author of "The Investor's Dilemma Decoded," told Business Insider via email.He pointed to a few key reasons.First, while <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/interest-rates-mortgage-loan-when-will-federal-reserve-cut-2023-9">mortgage rates</a> could tick lower in the years ahead, experts don't expect the roughly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/will-mortgage-rates-go-down-in-2024">3% rates</a> of a few years ago to return <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/11/real-estate-expert-mortgage-rates-wont-go-back-down-to-3-percent.html">anytime soon</a>. Additionally, a lack of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/home-prices-drop">housing supply</a> is expected to continue propping up home prices.This means that, for the foreseeable future, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-market-mistake-buyers-sellers-mortgage-rates-time-to-buy-2024-3">home affordability levels</a> could remain far from where they were a few years ago. And these elevated costs could make it more difficult for Gen Z homeowners to get a return on their investment."Higher interest rates and higher home prices make it harder for a new buyer to earn a high return on owning a home," Silk said.What's more, Silk said there's a larger reason Gen Zers shouldn't count on homeownership to boost their wealth. That's because historically, it hasn't had a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/better-to-rent-buy-house-yale-economist-real-estate-investment-2022-11">great track record</a> as an investment.Citing US <a target="_blank" href="https://www.multpl.com/case-shiller-home-price-index-inflation-adjusted">home price</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL">inflation</a> data between 1890 and 2023, Silk said single-family home prices have historically exceeded inflation by an average of only about 0.5% each year. For Gen Zers, buying a home at an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-housing-market-buying-a-home-prices-affordability-mortgage-rates-2024-6">elevated price</a> could make it less likely that their home values appreciate more than inflation.Additionally, the significant <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/house-cost-calculator-repairs-maintenance-insurance-rates-2023-12">costs of owning a home</a> can make homeownership even less attractive."It's not guaranteed to provide any investment return," Silk said of homeownership. "Even if the price rises, the person still has to pay a mortgage, property taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc. If you factor all those things in, many people don't make money even if their home rises in price."These costs are already putting pressure on current homeowners, and by the time more Gen Zers buy homes, they could be even more burdensome. For example, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-its-expensive-to-own-a-home-mortgage-insurance-interest2024-4">home insurance costs</a> have risen roughly 20% over the past two years — and could rise an additional 6% this year, according to the insurance comparison shopping site Insurify.<h2 id="1b87b336-9c0f-497f-80e0-8e7d2865a146">Buying a home doesn't guarantee increasing your wealth</h2>Some people think renting is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/renting-is-not-throwing-money-away-sometimes-best-choice">throwing away money</a>, and in one sense, they're correct. Their monthly payment is gone forever, and it has zero chance of providing an investment return.In comparison, many people view their downpayment and mortgage payments as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/americans-purchasing-homes-housing-good-real-estate-investment-2022-8">investments</a> — money they could earn a return on when they <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/real-estate-investing-how-to-profit-from-house-flipping-2024-5">sell their home</a> someday.But according to Silk, a sizable return is far from guaranteed. And even if a person sells their home for more than they bought it for, that doesn't mean it was necessarily successful from an investment perspective."The question from an investment point of view is whether or not the price increases are large enough to cover both inflation and the cost of owning the home," he said. "If your cost of ownership is 8% a year — e.g. interest plus taxes plus maintenance — the home price would have to rise by 8% a year just to break even."Additionally, Silk said people sometimes forget about the ways homeownership can go wrong. In 2023, there were roughly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.attomdata.com/news/market-trends/foreclosures/attom-2023-year-end-u-s-foreclosure-market-report/#:~:text=States%20that%20saw%20the%20greatest%20number%20of%20REOs%20in%202023,New%20York%20(2%2C538%20REOs).">357,000</a> US homes with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/what-is-foreclosure">foreclosure</a> filings, according to the real estate data firm Attom.While homeownership may have a so-so track record as an investment, Silk said this doesn't mean everyone should <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/renting-housing-market-home-ownership-mortgages-affordability-real-estate-2024-5">rent forever</a>."It's not clear," Silk said of whether buying or renting is better from a financial perspective. "It depends on the local real estate markets and the needs and expectations of the person."Silk said a low mortgage rate, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/renting-vs-buying-house-pros-cons">living in the same home</a> for many years, and residing in an area where future <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/where-home-prices-rise-appreciate-most-next-year-cities-zillow-2024-5">housing demand</a> is expected to be strong can give current and future homeowners the best chance of achieving a strong investment return on their home. Of course, checking these three boxes is easier said than done, since people can't predict the future.Being geographically flexible could also be helpful. In the coming years, some experts think home prices will stagnate or decline in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/home-prices-falling-housing-outlook-buying-a-home-mortgage-rates-2024-6">certain areas</a> of the US as new homes are built and retirees <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-market-home-price-outlook-prediction-financial-crisis-meredith-whitney-2024-2">sell their homes</a>.If home prices and rents continue to rise in line with historical levels — something Silk said is far from a guarantee — the "overall cost of owning" a home over the next 30 years could be lower than renting one for the average person, per his calculations.This means that from a financial perspective, buying could be better than renting for many Americans. But it's not guaranteed to be a home run as an investment — or a ticket to wealth.Have you gone to great lengths to find a home in your budget? Are you willing to share your story? If so, reach out to this reporter at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:jzinkula@businessinsider.com">jzinkula@businessinsider.com</a>.

Gen Z might have missed out on their chance to get rich through homeownership

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The housing market has been brutal in recent years as prices keep rising. </li><li>While high mortgage rates didn't bring prices down, steep insurance costs could put a lid on further appreciation. </li></ul>When mortgage rates started to spike in 2022, the thinking was that higher borrowing costs would put a lid on prices, which had spiraled endlessly upward since the pandemic sparked a buying frenzy. That didn't quite happen, and home prices have kept climbing, so much so that a recent report from Zillow said <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-market-affordability-homebuyer-earnings-income-price-trends-covid-comparison-2024-2">would-be buyers need to earn 80%</a> more than pre-pandemic to afford the median-priced home. But there's an under-the-radar factor that could soon pull down home prices nationally, real estate experts told Business Insider — soaring home insurance costs. Home insurance premiums, which surged 4.5% year-over-year in March alone, <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CUUR0000SEHD" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the FRED economic data</a>, could be the last straw for home buyers amid a litany of rising costs. Insurance comparison platform Insurify <a href="https://insurify.com/homeowners-insurance/report/home-insurance-price-projections/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said in a recent report</a> that annual insurance rates skyrocketed 19.8% from 2021 to 2023, and the company forecasts another 6% surge in 2024, which would push the average annual rate to $2,522 by year-end.Real estate experts said that though they aren't the top driver of home prices compared to mortgage rates or housing inventory, they still have the power to influence what buyers are willing to pay over the long term. <h3>A growing national burden for buyers</h3>Daryl Fairweather, the chief economist at Redfin, said in an interview with Business Insider that rising insurance costs are especially severe <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/falling-home-price-locations-us-housing-market-supply-florida-texas-2024-4">in states like Florida</a>, where climate disasters factor into the risk forecast, but they're rising all over the US. "There are places all over the country that are gonna have their own climate issues," she said, while referring to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-heat-wave-weather-costs-economy-workers-jobs-2023-7">Texas heat waves last summer</a>, which she said are likely to be repeated this year, and the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/western-us-wildfires-smoke-reached-east-coast-air-quality-2021-7">persistent smoke and wild fires plaguing the West Coast</a>.The insurance costs usually come as a surprise to home buyers in those areas, Fairweather added. "The problem is that most people don't go through the process of finding out how much insurance will cost until they've already made an offer on a home and they feel like they have to go through with it or they'll lose out on their earnest money if they back out," she said. <h3>Pressuring home prices</h3>Danielle Hale, the chief economist at Realtor.com, told BI that lenders typically require various forms of insurance from buyers who take on a mortgage, and if the insurance costs are too high, it can disqualify the buyer from getting the loan. "As costs rise, the pool of buyers who can qualify for the mortgage is more limited, and the price of the home may need to fall in order for a buyer to be found," Hale said.Jesse Keenan, a sustainable real estate and urban planning professor at Tulane University, said that homebuyers are very sensitive to the long-term operational costs of having insurance, and usually, the value of a home will decline if insurance is particularly costly. "So at the end of the day, it's buyers and sellers capitalizing risk," he said. "And they're coming to terms with what that risk may be."He also noted that insurance markets are getting better at discovering and assessing risk, thanks to things like geospatial technologies and advanced computing. "The implications of that are that technology is helping companies price at a much more precise measure of risk, so with all that information, consumers are now saying, 'you know what, this is worth more, this is worth less.' And as a consequence, the value of properties that are shaped are shifting, mostly down," Keenan said. In some extreme cases, that sensitivity has already prompted home price repricing in locales with extremely high insurance premiums, such as Louisiana. "You can see in the course of even a year or two, prices begin to respond because people are very sensitive to this," he said. To Fairweather, it's more precise to say the rising insurance will make home values grow more slowly than they would have, as the robust demand still characterizes the current market. "In general, demand exceeds supply, even though homeownership has become so unaffordable. We take into account prices and mortgage rates and now rising insurance costs, but there's still people wanting to buy homes," she said.

Soaring insurance costs could finally put a lid on home prices, real estate experts say

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