Housing
Potential Home Buyers Are Legitimately Freaked Out About New Flood Insurance Rules
Should we be worried about the real estate market, or is this a necessary climate change-related course correction?
As recent headlines have made plain, potential home buyers across the country are freaking out over new higher flood insurance premiums triggered by the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act, passed last year and starting to take effect this month. In Florida, "the once-minor line item of flood insurance...has become one of the only things buyers seem to care about," the Tampa Bay Times reports.
While homes that don't need flood insurance have become a hot commodity, homes that do need it are seeing their values plummet. "Louisiana property assessments on homes in flood zones have already dropped by as much as 30 percent because of the new flood rules," reports Bloomberg News.