93 93
INVESTMENT GOVERNMENT PROPERTY PRESERVATION
Journal
HOMEOWNERS
GRAVITATING TO
DISASTER-PRONE
METROS
Areas with increased risk of property
damage due to high heat, drought, fire, flood,
and storms are not necessarily discouraging
incoming residents, reports Redfin.com. In fact,
data show disaster-prone areas are becoming
even more populous, while counties with the
smallest share of homes facing climate risk
largely saw their populations decline.
"People have been gravitating to places
with severe climate risk because many of
these areas are relatively affordable, have
lower property taxes, more housing options or
access to nature," Redfin Economist Sebastian
Sandoval-Olascoaga said. "For a lot of people,
these benefits seem to outweigh the dangers of
climate change. But as natural disasters become
more frequent, homeowners in these areas may
end up losing property value or face considerable
difficulty getting their properties insured
against environmental disasters."
e report comes thanks to a recent
collaboration between Redfin and
ClimateCheck—which rates climate-risk from
0-100 by county, city, neighborhood, ZIP
code—as well as U.S. Census Bureau records.
e 50 U.S. counties with the largest
share of homes facing high heat risk saw their
populations increase by an average of 4.7%
from 2016 through 2020 due to positive net
migration. And the 50 counties with the largest
percentage of homes facing high drought,
fire, flood, and storm risk experienced average
population growth of 3.5%, 3%, 1.9% and 0.4%,
respectively, due to positive net migration,
showed the report.
Places with relatively low climate risk
have experienced the opposite trend, Redfin
reported.
e 50 counties with the lowest share
of homes facing high heat risk saw their
populations decrease by an average of 1.4%
from 2016 through 2020 due to negative net
migration, while the 50 counties with the
smallest percentage of homes facing high
drought, fire, and flood risk experienced average
migration-driven population declines of 1.1%,
1.2%, and 1.1%, respectively.
Bucking the trend were the 50 counties
with the lowest share of homes facing
high storm risk, which experienced 0.9%
population growth, the researchers added when
summarizing the report.
