For the past few years all my clients who have purchased homes in our deep inland areas (Alpine, Descanso, etc.) have had a challenge finding homeowner's insurance because of the concerns over fire. As you probably have heard many insurance providers are not writing new homeowner policies statewide because of increasing claims. Well, the issue is spreading beyond the high fire zones. I have a client right now looking at purchasing a high-end manufactured home at the beach and several insurers have said they are no longer writing policies for manufactured homes. It is crazy!
Apparently it isn't just in California though. According to a new Redfin-commissioned survey by Qualtrics which polled nearly 3,000 homeowners and renters in February, less than half (44.6 percent) of homeowners nationwide reported rising home insurance costs or changes in coverage – including the termination of policies by insurers – while nearly three-quarters (70.3 percent) of Florida homeowners and over half (51 percent) of California homeowners reported such disruptions.
According to a recent WRE News article, "Increased levels of natural disaster risks have prompted many insurers to stop doing business in Florida and California. Roughly one in eight Florida respondents (12 percent) and one in nine California respondents (10.7 percent) said their insurance company stopped offering coverage for their home – in comparison, the national share of homeowners who recently lost coverage was 8.3 percent. Florida and California homeowners also reported a higher rise in their insurance costs versus the national average." That is what we are seeing in the field. Perhaps homes that are easily insured will start to see a higher value. Interesting to consider. In the meantime my client and I have several calls to insurance companies trying to find coverage for a manufactured home!