MIAMI — Flooding due to climate change-related sea level rising, the erosion of natural barriers and long-periods of rain pose substantial economic risks to Florida, particularly to the value of South Florida real estate, according to two new reports released last week.
For years, Florida lawmakers mostly ignored climate change under then-Gov. Rick Scott, who is now a U.S. Senator. But GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken a more aggressive stance at tackling the issue, although environmentalists want him to do more.
Based on past trends, losses from flooding in Florida could devalue vulnerable homes by $30 billion to $80 billion, or about 15% to 35%, by 2050, according to a report from McKinsey Global Institute.
Average annual losses for residential real estate due to storm surge from hurricanes amount to $2 billion today, but that projection could increase to about $3 billion to $4.5 billion by 2050, the McKinsey report said.
“Flooding in Florida could not only damage housing but also raise insurance costs, affect property values of exposed homes, and in turn reduce property tax revenues for communities,” the McKinsey report said.
Furthermore, the impact of a 100-year-storm event could be even more devastating over time, going from $35 billion today to between $50 billion and $75 billion by 2050, the McKinsey report said.
A separate report from the climate-risk analytics firm Jupiter Intelligence said the percentage of vulnerable oceanfront properties affected by extreme flooding will rise in Miami-Dade County from 5% in 2019 to 98% by 2050.
By 2050, annual flooding damage county-wide in Miami-Dade County is expected to roughly double, leading to shortages in affordable insurance coverage and real estate market instability, according to the Jupiter Intelligence report.
“Ignoring, or underestimating, the actual economic risk posed by moderate flooding is common to other geographies in the U.S. and around the world,” said Rich Sorkin, CEO of Jupiter in a statement. “Almost none of this risk is reflected in prices. Most of this dynamic is not yet understood, nor is it implemented into the decision-making of financial institutions.”
The short-term impacts of flooding will be felt within the next decade, according to the Jupiter report.
The impact from moderate flooding of up to one foot in an oceanfront city in Miami-Dade County will increase from 13% of total properties to 48% of total properties. Properties at risk from extreme flooding will jump from 5% to 86% of the total, according to the Jupiter report.
The increased risks of flooding could leave lenders exposed to greater losses and insurers in need of adjusting their pricing to include the greater risks, the Jupiter report said.
“Homes, livelihoods, and the viability of financial institutions and the economy as a whole may find themselves under a Sword of Damocles, unaware of the extent of risk they bear, and without time to prepare,” said Sorkin, referencing the ancient parable about living under imminent peril.
TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
