Miami, Tampa Residents May Need To Disclose Flood Risk

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Home insurance rates have rocketed in some American coastal cities as massive storms and winds have destroyed residences, particularly in Florida along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and California along the Pacific Coast. Many homeowners have high storm risks so significant they cannot get insurance. A new law, proposed in Florida would require homeowners to provide potential buyers with information about flooding. This, in turn, could undermine the price people can get for their houses. The problem will be particularly acute in Florida’s largest coastal cities, including high real estate value sections of Tampa and Miami.

Wet States —Maine And Vermont

Sinking City —Texas City TX

According to the Orlando Weekly, the proposed new law would “Among other requirements, owners would have to disclose whether the property has been covered by flood insurance, whether flood-insurance claims have ever been filed and whether owners have received federal assistance for flood damage.”

Houses On The Florida Coast

According to the NOAA Office of Coastal Management, “California tops the coastal populations chart with 26.7 million people living in coastal counties, followed by New York with 16 million, Florida with 15.8 million, New Jersey with 7.1 million, and Texas with 6.8 million.” For Flordia, this means millions of homes face potential risks, particularly from a growing number of massive hurricanes.

Home prices in Florida have risen faster in the last decade than in any other state except Idaho. This means the housing market may already be overpriced and at risk of dropping values.

Since 2000, Florida has been hit by hurricanes and tropical cyclones that have caused $236 billion in property damage. Climate change, particularly rising temperatures in the Atlantic, will probably increase the number of storms and make the number of powerful storms more likely.

Flood exposure risk could trigger a drop in home values in some of Florida’s largest cities.