Rising Home Insurance Nonrenewals Reshape Housing Market Across the U.S.

A growing crisis in the U.S. housing market is taking shape as home insurance nonrenewals surge, driven by climate-related risks such as wildfires, hurricanes, and flooding. Over 1.9 million policies have been dropped since 2018, leaving homeowners struggling to secure coverage and jeopardizing their ability to maintain mortgages. This trend is affecting regions well beyond the traditional high-risk zones of Florida and California, extending into the Gulf Coast, Midwest, and even Hawaii.

States like California have been particularly impacted, with nonrenewals in some counties increasing by more than 500%. In response, regulators are enabling insurers to raise rates in exchange for commitments to cover high-risk areas. The ripple effects of widespread nonrenewals are severe, destabilizing local economies, decreasing property values, and threatening essential public services dependent on property taxes.

Experts point to the undeniable link between climate change and shrinking insurance markets. Although industry groups argue that nonrenewals stem from a variety of local factors, patterns of extreme weather events correlate strongly with policy disruptions. The issue now demands urgent action from governments, insurers, and homeowners to create adaptive solutions. Mitigation strategies like upgrading infrastructure, incentivizing retrofits, and leveraging advanced technologies may offer a way forward in stabilizing the insurance and housing sectors.