Almost 8 million homes on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts are at risk of storm surge damage in 2021.
Almost 8 million homes with more than $1.9 trillion in reconstruction cost value are at risk of storm surge damage in 2021, according to the 2021 Hurricane Report from property data analytics provider CoreLogic. The report—focused on single and multifamily residences along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts—takes a closer look at how the hurricane damage to a property affects the owner's ability to pay the mortgage. It also examines the impact of hurricanes on the nation's housing supply, which is already alarmingly short. For homeowners, the result of a financial catastrophe results in a significant increase in mortgage delinquency rates as people, crippled by expenses and lost wages, fail to make monthly payments, according to the report. After Hurricane Laura made landfall in Lake Charles, for example, the already-elevated delinquency rate went up from 9.8% in August 2020 to 16.1% in September 2020, an increase of 6.3 percentage points. “To provide a 360-degree view of the impact of climate change, we took a look at the U.S. housing economy after a hurricane strikes and noticed a significant spike in mortgage delinquency rates and loss in housing inventory,” said Frank Nothaft, Chief Economist at CoreLogic. "We've already established that 2020 and previous years have been record-breaking financial impacts across many communities," said George Gallager, Principal, Hazard and Spatial Solutions. "I summarize this as a key reminder we cannot overlook the human impact and community impact that devastating hurricanes and other natural disasters have on borrowers, homeowners and the communities they live in."
Source: DSNews