Earthquakes in Mexico, hurricanes in the South, fires throughout Southern California and the northwest. With all the natural disasters among us as of late, now might be a good time to assess your our risk of succumbing to a natural disaster.
Fortunately, property analytics firm Attom Data has done just that -- and then some. They took a look at the risk of natural disasters in over 3,000 counties and 22,000+ cities, ranging from earthquakes and floods to wildfires, hurricanes and tornadoes. Then they compared them to housing trends.
Patch breaks down the results of Attom Data’s new risk index:
Homeowners in Los Angeles have the third-highest risk in the nation of losing their home to a natural disaster, according to a report released Thursday.
Only Oklahoma City and San Jose have homeowners more at risk than L.A. of a home loss due to earthquakes, floods, hail, hurricane storm surges, tornadoes and wildfires, according to Attom Data Solutions, a real estate research firm in Irvine.
Of 50 U.S. locales analyzed with a population of at least 500,000, those with the lowest overall natural hazard housing risk index were the cities of Philadelphia, Phoenix, Buffalo and Orlando and the New York City borough Brooklyn.
Here’s what else Attom Data found:
Homeowners in Los Angeles have the third-highest risk in the nation of losing their home to a natural disaster, according to a report released Thursday.
Only Oklahoma City and San Jose have homeowners more at risk than L.A. of a home loss due to earthquakes, floods, hail, hurricane storm surges, tornadoes and wildfires, according to Attom Data Solutions, a real estate research firm in Irvine.
Of 50 U.S. locales analyzed with a population of at least 500,000, those with the lowest overall natural hazard housing risk index were the cities of Philadelphia, Phoenix, Buffalo and Orlando and the New York City borough Brooklyn.
Here’s what else Attom Data found:
Median home prices in cities in the top 20 percent (Very High) for natural hazard risk have appreciated 65 percent on average over the past five years and 9 percent on average over the past 10 years while median home prices cities in the bottom 20 percent (Very Low) for natural hazard risk have appreciated 32 percent on average over the past five years and 3 percent on average over the past 10 years.
“Strong demand for homes in high-risk natural hazard areas has helped to accelerate price appreciation in those areas over the past decade despite the potential for devastating damage to homes that can be caused by a natural disaster — as evidenced by the recent hurricanes that made landfall in Texas and Florida,” said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions. “That strong demand is driven largely by economic fundamentals, primarily the presence of good-paying jobs, although the natural beauty that often comes hand-in-hand with high natural hazard risk in these areas is also attractive to many homebuyers.”
In other words, natural disasters aren’t dissuading home buyers at all. Prices in some of our most disaster-prone areas are on the rise with no end in sight.
Read the full report at Attom Data’s website.