After several disasterous wildfires, the State of Oregon USA passed a bipartisan bill to help vulnerable residents fireproof their homes. All seemed fine until the State developed a map indicating which properties were vulnerable. This created tremendous resistance as many people thought this would increase their insurance costs and make their properties less valuable.
An analysis of the US housing market published in 2021 showed that flood risk can reduce prices or demand. Sophisticated commercial buyers and other more risk-aware buyers were the most price sensitive, and many properties remained overpriced, because flood risk had not been fully taken into account. Read more about this study. |
