You might bear that home prices would go down in an surface area lately wrecked by a hurricane , but a new subject field finds the opposition is dead on target , and post - storm cost raise could be a major driver of what ’s known as clime gentrification .
The work , publish inJournal of Environmental Economics and Management , found that home prices in Florida were 5 % high in the three - class period after a hurricane . Those hurricane - stricken lodging markets attracted wealthier resident physician instead of scaring them away .
Researchers look at hurricane information fromNOAA , housing information on Zillow , and revenue enhancement assessment in Florida from 2000 to 2016 . “ Using mortgage app datum , we find that incoming homeowner in this period have higher income , leading to an overall shift toward loaded mathematical group , ” the authors write in their abstract . This is a sign ofclimate gentrification , or when loaded the great unwashed move into area after an uttermost weather event disrupt or give the axe the exist community of interests . mood gentrification can also occur when wealthier masses move into lower - income communities seek backup man fromlong - term climate issueslike flooding .
Boats litter a canal residence on 6 January 2025 on Sanibel Island, Florida after Hurricane Ian.Photo: Sean Rayford/ (Getty Images)
The researchers estimated that the light - term price spike heel may come from the decrement in housing supply because of storm damage . They also find that home Mary Leontyne Price do come back to pre - hurricane levels but never go under that . During those three years where housing price are high-pitched , the wealthier buyers are the ace who can yield to buy homes . By the clock time price stabilise again , high - income homeowner fill about a quarter of the homes in storm - bear on communities , the study found .
Yanjun ( Penny ) Liao , a fellow with the Resources for the Future , told E&E Newsthat this might happen because affluent prop owners can afford to go through a disaster . “ It ’s not like their financial wealthiness is going to be wiped out if they have to pay to rebuild their home , ” she said .
The state ’s complicated insurance policy industry is one intellect why wealthier people can continue to be homeowners or come in and buy properties after a storm . The industriousness was n’t doing too hot evenbefore Hurricane Ianmade landfalllast September . Several secret insurance company keep out down in 2022 , and more than 12 shuttered since 2020,Quartz report . Property owners have had toturn to Citizens , the state - owned insurer . Because that insurer has taken onthousandsof customer in the last two days , extreme conditions would make it hard to give out every dimension possessor affected by utmost weather . And purchasing insurance is expensive in Florida . Homeowners in the sunshine state pay about $ 4,000 on norm for insurance , compare to the nationalaverage of $ 1,544 .
calculate on their insurance , Florida homeowners may struggle to handle more complex storm damage , like mold . Some home insurance insurance do n’t compensate mold , and attribute owner may have to purchase freestanding insurance policy that will cover those damages , according toInvestopedia . Lower - income homeowners ca n’t care the major fixing on their own .
harmonize to Liao , researchers behind the subject were surprised that housing demand does n’t acutely decline after a storm hits , especially as mood changefuels stronger storms . “ Our findings show that the idea that people will naturally retreat from wild areas may not needs hold up , ” she saidin a press release . “ In Florida , at least , it appears that market forces are not encourage people to move to secure places . ”
The research worker go for that the study will lead to more interrogation of how post - hurricane trapping markets affect lowly - income home buyers and longtime renters . “ policy may be needed to check that these communities have solid adaptation and mitigation measures in place to deal with future storm , ” coauthor Joshua Graff Zivin of the University of California San Diego said in a statement .
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