Home Prices Hit Hard In Miami As Weather Worsens

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Miami, parts of which some scientists think will be underwater in three decades, is starting to show a slip in home prices. The problem was obvious in the Reator.com January Monthly Housing Report, which covers 50 cities. The median list price of homes in Miami dropped sharply by 7.9% to $520,000 in January year over year. The median list price across the country dropped .2% to $400,500 over the same period.

*Miami’s Flood Future

*Falling Repair Costs

*A City Of Unsold Homes

Additionally, other parts of Florida had home price problems in January, “Interestingly, out of the top five markets with the highest share of price reduction, three markets are in Florida: Jacksonville (24.3%), Tampa (24.8%), Orlando (22.3%).” All three cities were hit hard by hurricanes last year.

What isn’t clear is whether violent weather has started to catch up to home prices in these areas. Not only have they been hit by hurricanes. Their risk has risen because of unusually warm water in both the South Atlantic and The Gulf Of Mexico. Warm water makes storms substantially more powerful which is something that happened less several decades ago.

Insurance Challenges

These storms may have begun a migration out of these cities. If so, that would drop home prices. Additionally, home insurance rates have surged. In some cases, insurance is not available at all. Without insurance, buyers cannot get mortgages.

Florida’s weather may not be a perfect storm for home prices, but things are moving that way.