In California, 23,000 residents of El Dorado County were forced to leave their homes in under six hours on Wednesday as the Caldor fire turned their way. Over in Lake Country, Calif., the Cache fire destroyed roughly 50 homes. Along the East Coast, residents are watching Tropical Storm Henri, hoping it doesn’t shift its path—and wondering what’s to come in the next two months. And in Portland, Ore., and Spokane, Wash., residents are bracing for another round of triple-digit temperatures in the coming days.
Despite the undeniable fact that extreme weather is an increasing concern for homeowners, today’s buyers aren’t paying a lot of attention to it. A survey by Realtor.com finds that just 52% of homeowners took natural disasters into account when choosing the location of their current home.
That’s causing some regrets after purchase. The same survey finds that 47% of homeowners are more concerned now than they were five years ago about the threat of natural disasters to their house. And over one-third are considering a proactive sale of their property to avoid facing that natural disaster.
Homeowners insurance covers some of the costs if your house is hit by a disaster, but not necessarily all of them. (For instance, flood damage is covered under a separate policy that many people don’t have.) That makes it more important than ever to know the ins and outs of your policy, but only 56% said they know what to look for. And 15% said they had no clue.
Younger homeowners and low-income homeowners were more likely to have misunderstandings.
The willful ignorance or lack of awareness about the possible impact of natural disasters comes as the real estate market continues to thrive. While homes aren’t selling at quite the same pace as they were six months ago, they’re still moving much faster than in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
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