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79 October 2025 J O U R N A L themortgagepoint.com October 2025 » Recent data from Redfin reveals $51.7 billion worth of homes in the city of Los Angeles—or roughly 11,000 residen- tial properties—were impacted by the wildfires in January. For the study, the Los Angeles City Council shared a list of 11,125 residential parcels in the city of Los Ange- les that were inspected by the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety after the wildfires. Redfin was able to match nearly 11,000 of those parcels with Redfin property value estimates as of December 2024—the month before the fires. Many, but not all, were destroyed by the fires. Most of the properties Redfin analyzed were single-family homes. Most homes in this analysis were impacted by the Palisades Fire, which is estimated to be the third most destructive wildfire in California history, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). The fire made news for destroying homes in the high-end Pacific Palisades neighborhood, but many other areas were also devastat- ed in the January fires. Please note that this analysis excludes the impact of the Eaton Fire, which impacted the Los Ange- les suburb of Altadena, meaning the total value of homes destroyed in the January fires far exceeds $51.7 billion. COULD HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE BECOME THE NEXT HOUSING CRISIS? A ccording to a recent Realtor.com survey, nearly half of recent and potential homebuyers have expe- rienced or anticipate experiencing difficul- ties obtaining or renewing homeowner's insurance, as over one in four homes in the United States—representing $12.7 trillion in real estate value—are at risk of exposure to severe or extreme climate risks. According to the survey, 42% of respondents have already acknowledged that their house insurance premiums have increased, and 88% of respondents think they will eventually have to pay more for their coverage. Remarkably, 75% of respon- dents think that homeowners insurance may eventually become too expensive. Some 58% of recent and potential purchasers responded to the study by saying that if the cost of homeowners insurance increased, they would or are likely to forgo it—some have already done so. Even though many Gen Z purchasers are using a mortgage and are therefore probably compelled to obtain homeown- ers insurance, this number rises to 76% among these young buyers. An additional 65% of respondents expressed concern about getting and keeping homeowner's insurance. "Homeowners insurance offers financial protection for consumers that may help cover damage to homes and personal property from an extreme weather event or fire, while also providing personal property and liability coverage," said Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com. "But these benefits come with an upfront cost that has risen as weather events have become more frequent and impactful, and rebuilding costs climb. Homeowners are looking for strategies to lower costs, including adjusting their home searches and potentially short- charging or forgoing coverage altogether." How Homeowners Insurance Is Hindering Americans One third (33.7%) of home searchers have been compelled to entirely alter the geographic location in which they are looking for a home due to insurance issues, and another 30% have broadened their search and extended their initial target territory. Due to insurance issues, over 25% of home searchers have entirely altered their tactics. Furthermore, just 30% of respondents have examined the natural disaster risk information for their current or potential residences, despite 44% intending to do so in the future. Compared to other generations, particularly baby boomers, who reported that only 6% of them had entirely altered their homebuying strategy and 15% had broadened their initial search, Gen Z home searchers are more likely to have taken some kind of action during their search to potentially mitigate against homeowners insurance challenges. A recent Realtor.com analysis states that severe climate hazards, such as as flooding, wildfires, or hurricane wind damage, affect 26% of houses in the Unit- ed States, which is worth $12.7 trillion. Homeowners in high-risk areas face increased financial burden as a result of these extreme climate threats, which raise insurance costs. The average homeowner in Miami presently pays yearly premiums for sin- gle-family homeowners with HO-3 poli- cies, the most popular kind of homeown- ers insurance policy in the United States, which equals 3.7% of the home's market value. This is the highest ratio among the 100 largest metro areas in the country. "Homeowners insurance offers financial protection for consumers that may help cover damage to homes and personal property from an extreme weather event or fire, while also providing personal property and liability coverage,"" —Danielle Hale, Chief Economist, Realtor.com