Natural disasters impacted more than 14.5 million homes last year, causing an estimated $56.92 billion dollars in damages across the country, according to CoreLogic’s recently released 2021 Climate Change Catastrophe Report. Put another way, that’s one in 10 homes in the U.S. that were impacted by the largest natural catastrophic events of last year. The report includes several other concerning data points homeowners and real estate professionals should be aware of.
Key findings:
Wildfires accounted for $1.46 billion in damages and impacted 4,101 homes across the U.S., with a reconstruction value set at nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars.
Severe weather impacted 563,627 homes, causing $7.46 billion in damages. The reconstruction value of that damage was $123.7 billion.
Hurricanes caused $33 billion in damages and impacted 1,233,860 homes. That accounted for $395.39 billion in reconstruction value.
Winter storms caused $15 billion in damage and impacted 12,764,941 homes. The reconstruction value is a mind-blowing $2.27 trillion.
The takeaway:
According to the report: “Modern insurance and mortgage solutions can have significant value when it comes to addressing the increase in climate change-induced hazard events and their impact on the real estate economy. Nearly every property in the U.S. has exposure to hazard risk, and the effects of a catastrophic event can result in an unstable economy with high levels of unemployment and mortgage delinquency.”
