Home Insurance Premiums Rise While Median Income Lags Behind
Home insurance premiums are growing, but that doesn’t mean that household incomes are growing to meet them. According to a recent analysis from housing market platform Zillow, home insurance premiums have grown by 38%—or by about $500—since 2019, while the median homeowner income has grown by just 22% during the same period. Currently, insurance costs range from $1,200 to $4,000 annually for the typical homeowner and comprise about 2% of a household’s income.
Metro areas with the highest growth in insurance premiums since 2019
Of all major U.S. metros, Miami has experienced the sharpest rise in insurance premiums. With $1.4 trillion of residential real estate in Miami at risk of extreme weather, insurance premiums there have risen by 57% since 2019.
Sacramento, likewise, recorded a 54% growth rate since 2019 due to wildfire risk, followed by Jacksonville, Fla., and Orlando, Fla., which recorded respective growth rates of 51% and 49%. Because 95% of homes in Richmond, Va., are at risk of extreme wind damage, that metro area also recorded 48% growth in insurance premiums.
How rising insurance costs might affect the country’s affordable housing stock
While insurance prices are rising across the U.S., it still isn’t enough to drastically impact affordability nationwide. According to Zillow, one third of for-sale listings in the U.S. are considered affordable for a household making the median income, and even if insurance premiums rose by 30%, the stock of affordable homes among those currently listed for sale would decline by just 1%.
However, this isn’t necessarily the case when looking at local housing market data. For instance, if insurance costs rose by 30% in New Orleans—where 84% of homes are at risk of flood damage—the share of affordable listings would drop by more than 12%. Similarly, in Oklahoma City—where 25% of homes face wildfire risk—a 30% increase in insurance costs would cause the number of affordable listings to decline by nearly 11%.
Insurance costs have challenged homeowners over the last few years
- Homeowners Insurance: The Other Affordability Crisis: Skyrocketing insurance premiums and carriers exiting high-risk areas have dampened the dream of homeownership. A look at how we got here and some measures that show signs of providing relief.
- Homeowners Fear Losing Current Insurance Policies: Survey data from Value Penguin shows that half of all home insurance policy holders said they feared losing their home insurance due to an increase in natural disasters.
- 1 in 7 Homes in the US Don't Have Insurance: With some insurance companies pulling out of states at risk of extreme weather, a recent survey from LendingTree found 11.3 million owner-occupied homes in the U.S. are without insurance.