Zillow: Homes at Risk of Climate Disaster Total Trillions

(Image courtesy of Zillow)

Zillow, Seattle, released a study analyzing the value of U.S. homes at major risk of damage from fire, flood or extreme wind.

Homes with major wind risk total $17 trillion. (Zillow noted that those homes have a score of 5 or higher in First Street displayed on the Zillow for-sale platform).

Homes at major risk of fire total $9.1 trillion. And, those with major flood risk are $7 trillion total.

There are 11 metro areas with at least $100 billion of residential real estate with major risk of fire, led by Los Angeles, at $831 billion. Riverside, Calif., is the metro area with the highest fraction of homes at risk.

Topping the list of areas with major flood risk is the New York City metro, at $593 billion, narrowly beating Miami’s $580 billion. New Orleans is the metro area with the greatest share of homes at risk.

For wind, the value of homes at major risk of extreme wind stands at $3 trillion for New York City, followed by Miami at $1.4 trillion and Boston at $1 trillion. However, Miami is the top of the list when it comes to fraction of homes at risk of wind damage.

“The risk of natural disasters and rising insurance costs are profoundly reshaping the housing market. Home buyers are paying attention,” said Kara Ng, a Senior Economist at Zillow. “With trillions of dollars in real estate vulnerable to these risks, informed decision-making for what is the biggest purchase of many buyers’ lives has never been more critical.”