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Urban condo owners are "counting pennies" as home insurance soars

Aug 16, 2024
Insurance rates nationwide have jumped more than 11% in 2023 and climbed nearly 20% since 2022, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Diann Dumas is cutting whatever expenses she can to afford increased HOA fees since her condo complex saw a 475% insurance spike.
Caleigh Wells/Marketplace

Home insurance premiums are surging. That's bad news for low-income housing — and its residents.

Jul 3, 2024
The more low-income housing nonprofits have to pay for insurance, the less they have leftover to build new units to ease the housing shortage.
Nearly a third of affordable housing providers saw premiums spike at least 25% from 2022 to 2023. Climate change has played a role in the rising cost.
Leila Macor/AFP via Getty Images

As more Floridians turn to state's insurer of last resort, it seeks to raise rates

Jun 21, 2024
Citizens Property Insurance has a huge risk load as private insurers avoid the state. Many residents say coverage is already costly.
A home in the Florida Keys destroyed by Hurricane Irma in 2017. For insurance companies, the state's exposure to climate damage has been a dealbreaker.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

He assesses climate risk on the housing market, and he wants your attention

Jun 12, 2024
As people become more aware of living in vulnerable areas, home prices will gradually reflect that risk, says Tim Judge of Fannie Mae.
"We do need every state to have flood disclosures," says Fannie Mae's Tim Judge. Above, water from a flash flood surrounds a home in Thermal, California, after a monsoonal thunderstorm in September.
David McNew/Getty Images

Rising insurance costs are making homeownership even more expensive

Mar 21, 2024
Climate risk and inflation are making insurance harder to find and mortgages harder to afford.
The main reason for higher home insurance costs is climate change, which is increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather events.
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images

A worldwide earthquake drill may spur more homeowners to buy insurance

Oct 18, 2018
Do not be alarmed if, a bit later on Thursday, you turn to see a bunch of co-workers peering out from under their desks. It’s not an alien invasion or a spontaneous game of hide-and-seek. Nearly 60 million people around the world are signed up to participate in a earthquake drill, the 2018 Great ShakeOut, […]

A worldwide earthquake drill may spur more homeowners to buy insurance

Oct 18, 2018
Do not be alarmed if, a bit later on Thursday, you turn to see a bunch of co-workers peering out from under their desks. It’s not an alien invasion or a spontaneous game of hide-and-seek. Nearly 60 million people around the world are signed up to participate in a earthquake drill, the 2018 Great ShakeOut, […]

For public good, not for profit.

Jack Wheeler and his wife, Tami Wheeler, watch as a FEMA housing inspector measures their flooded home in 2008 in Oakville, Iowa.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Their homes escaped flooding, but the fear lingers

Sep 1, 2017
"Everyone becomes on edge when you hear any type of heavy rainfall," a Louisiana homeowner says.
A flooded street in Cypress, Texas, northwest of Houston.
Courtesy of Marcy Matyas

Despite wildfires, more homes built in forests

Jul 2, 2013
Why more and more homes are going up in the country’s most fire-prone areas.