California Housing's 'New Abnormal'

The wildfires in both Northern California and in Malibu, Calif. are historic in terms of lives lost and properties destroyed. Despite the likelihood of more fires, rebuilding efforts are still underway.

Speaking to the latest round of fires blazing in California and future rebuilding efforts, Zillow's director of economic research Aaron Terrazas says, “Historically, if you look back in the aftermath of natural disasters, we’ve tended to rebuild bigger and better and more expensive than we used to. These [market] fringes between urban and wild tend to be very desirable.” 

While this viewpoint speaks to California's long-standing, enduring desirability for many homeowners and homebuyers, the calls to stop building in high-risk areas are growing stronger and louder. Particularly as the housing market absorbs the costs of what the Golden State's Governor Jerry Brown calls its "new abnormal" of year-round fire risk, Bloomberg reports.

How long it takes to rebuild after the current round of wildfires depends on the financial resources of each household, said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic, a real estate data firm. For a place like Malibu, a wealthy enclave populated with Hollywood stars, that could be easier. In Paradise, a more modest community popular with retirees, some former residents may have no choice but to walk away. Others may just choose to do so after seeing their communities burn. “There may be some people who say, ‘Gosh, I’ve had it. I’m going to move to Idaho,” Northaft said.

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