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☆ High mortgage rates didn't put a lid on home prices, but soaring insurance costs might, real estate experts say
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Yuheng Zhan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

While high mortgage rates didn't bring prices down, steep insurance costs could put a lid on further appreciation. But there's an under-the-radar factor that could soon pull down home prices nationally, real estate experts told Business Insider — soaring home insurance costs. AdvertisementThe insurance costs usually come as a surprise to home buyers in those areas, Fairweather added. To Fairweather, it's more precise to say the rising insurance will make home values grow more slowly than they would have, as the robust demand still characterizes the current market. We take into account prices and mortgage rates and now rising insurance costs, but there's still people wanting to buy homes," she said.

Persons: —, Zillow, FRED, Daryl Fairweather, Fairweather, Danielle Hale, Hale, Jesse Keenan, Keenan, it's, homeownership, there's Organizations: Service, Business, Tulane University Locations: Florida, Texas, West, Louisiana

☆ Wealthy buyers are flocking to Florida to rebuild mansions where modest homes were destroyed by hurricanes
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rich buyers have the funds to rebuild mansions that are more likely to survive future storms. Fort Myers Beach, Florida, has seen an influx of new buyers following Hurricane Ian last year. The storm killed 21 people and washed away a third of the homes and businesses located on the skinny sand strip that makes up Fort Myers Beach, many of which were modest, middle-class homes. Candy Rahn, 69, told the outlet she and her husband were forced out of Fort Myers after Ian when her uninsured cottage was destroyed. The wealthy companies and people who swoop in to buy up empty lots in Fort Myers Beach are in some ways helping disaster survivors by padding their pockets with thousands of dollars.

Persons: Rich, Ian, —, Candy Rahn, Fort Myers, Rahn, Jesse Keenan Organizations: Bloomberg, Service, Fort Myers, Attom Data, University of Delaware's, Research, Tulane University Locations: Florida, Fort Myers Beach , Florida, Estero, Fort Myers Beach, Fort, Fort Myers, New Orleans

☆ New Orleans residents brace for salt water intrusion as Biden declares national emergency
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

An aerial view of New Orleans can be seen from a drone above the Mississippi River on April 1, 2023 in New Orleans, La. Ricky Carioti | The Washington Post | Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden on Wednesday declared a federal emergency for a saltwater intrusion in the Mississippi River, which is threatening New Orleans' water infrastructure. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects that two New Orleans water treatment plants will be affected by the end of October: the Algiers Water Treatment Plant on Oct. 22 and the Carrollton Water Treatment Plant on Oct. 28. Solutions under considerationAt a New Orleans City Council meeting on Wednesday, councilmembers, officials from the SWBNO and from the Department of Homeland Security discussed possible response strategies. Some New Orleanians are wondering why the city is always playing defense, despite the warning signs of saltwater intrusion in years past.

Persons: Ricky Carioti, Joe Biden, John Bel Edwards, Biden, Jesse Keenan, Mia Miller, Miller, Joseph Giarrusso, SWBNO, Councilmember Lesli Harris, Councilmember, there's, We're, Bywater, Stephen Murphy, bode, Murphy Organizations: Washington Post, Getty, Wednesday, Louisiana Gov, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Biden's, U.S . Army Corps of Engineers, Board, New, New Orleans City Council, U.S . Army Corps of Engineers New, Water Board, Tulane University, New Orleans City, Department of Homeland Security, FEMA, Tulane University's Disaster Management Locations: New Orleans, Mississippi, La, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, U.S . Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans, Algiers, Carrollton, Bywater, councilmembers

☆ Finding Climate Havens
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( German Lopez | More About German Lopez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The weather extremes are enough to drive some people to pick up their lives and look for more climate-friendly places to live. Jesse Keenan, a climate adaptation expert at Tulane University living in low-lying New Orleans, is among them. “I tell my students this: ‘Within your lifetime, Tulane will no longer be a university. Your alma mater will relocate or disappear because of where it is.’”Are there places that are better suited to deal with climate change? Still, Americans are not moving to climate-friendly places today.

Persons: Jesse Keenan, ”, “, it’s Organizations: Tulane University, Tulane Locations: Hawaii, California, New Orleans, Great, U.S, Canada, Russia, Scandinavia, Phoenix

SL Green Realty said it sold the building at 245 Park Avenue, which has 1.8 million-square-foot of office space, to a U.S. affiliate of Japanese real estate developer Mori Trust Co Ltd. Its sale represents a slight discount to the $2.21 billion that China's HNA Group paid to acquire the building in 2017 when New York City's commercial real estate market was at its peak. SL Green took control of 245 Park Avenue last year after lenders seized the building from HNA Group. Jesse Keenan, sustainable real estate professor at Tulane University, said the transaction is a speculative investment that suggests the deep downturn in the New York commercial real estate market may have bottomed out. SL Green Realty was the biggest gainer among listed REITs, leading its peers Vornado Realty Trust (VNO.N), Office Properties Income Trust (OPI.O), and Boston Properties Inc (BXP.N).

Persons: Kohn Pedersen Fox, Angelo Gordon, Jesse Keenan, Keenan, Vornado, Chibuike Oguh, Herbert Lash, Lisa Shumaker, Lance Tupper, Michelle Price Organizations: YORK, SL Green Realty Corp, Big, SL Green Realty, Mori Trust, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, Grand, Ares Management, Societe Generale, HNA, Green, HNA Group, Tulane University, New York, Green Realty, Vornado Realty, Income, Boston Properties Inc, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Manhattan, New York

Sea level rise will flood huge swaths of the country and submerge billions of dollars’ worth of land, according to a new report. The analysis indicates that sea level rise could reduce the value of that private land by more than $108 billion by the end of the century. Risk isn’t evenly distributedClimate Central found that, unsurprisingly, the effects of sea level rise aren’t evenly distributed across the U.S. In Galveston County, Texas, more than 4,200 buildings that are currently above sea level will be at least partially underwater. While sea level rise is one of the major impacts of the climate crisis, it’s not the only one.

Tens of thousands of people are scrambling for homeowners insurance in Louisiana at the peak of hurricane season after recent storms drove their carriers out of business. Massive claims from those storms drove large national insurance companies to scale back their coverage and remaining companies to jack up rates. The strategy seemed to work: Rates eventually stabilized, although Louisiana remained one of the most expensive states for homeowners insurance. That pushed the small insurance companies to their financial limits and squeezed reinsurers, who raised their rates. The state insurer’s rolls, which totaled 34,500 in August 2020, ballooned to about 110,000 last week.

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