IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jhouse/v62y2023ics1051137723000402.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Flood insurance reforms, housing market dynamics, and adaptation to climate risks

Author

Listed:
  • Hennighausen, Hannah
  • Liao, Yanjun
  • Nolte, Christoph
  • Pollack, Adam

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of two nationwide reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program on both flood insurance and property markets. The 2012 and 2014 reforms aimed to phase out subsidies on flood insurance premiums. Using a difference-in-differences framework comparing treated and similar but untreated properties, we find that the reforms led to a 14.3% relative increase in the price of flood insurance, an 8.2% decrease in insurance demand, a 4.2% decrease in property prices and a 2.3% decrease in property transaction volumes. As flood risk continues to accelerate across the United States, properly pricing insurance premiums can effectively discourage households from living in risky areas, but may involve potential trade-offs such as the unintended outcome of a large drop-off in insurance coverage.

Suggested Citation

  • Hennighausen, Hannah & Liao, Yanjun & Nolte, Christoph & Pollack, Adam, 2023. "Flood insurance reforms, housing market dynamics, and adaptation to climate risks," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhouse:v:62:y:2023:i:c:s1051137723000402
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhe.2023.101953
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1051137723000402
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jhe.2023.101953?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Oliver E. J. Wing & William Lehman & Paul D. Bates & Christopher C. Sampson & Niall Quinn & Andrew M. Smith & Jeffrey C. Neal & Jeremy R. Porter & Carolyn Kousky, 2022. "Inequitable patterns of US flood risk in the Anthropocene," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 12(2), pages 156-162, February.
    2. Carolyn Kousky, 2019. "The Role of Natural Disaster Insurance in Recovery and Risk Reduction," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 11(1), pages 399-418, October.
    3. Georgic, Will & Klaiber, H. Allen, 2022. "Stocks, flows, and flood insurance: A nationwide analysis of the capitalized impact of annual premium discounts on housing values," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    4. Erwann O. Michel-Kerjan, 2010. "Catastrophe Economics: The National Flood Insurance Program," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(4), pages 165-186, Fall.
    5. Laura A Bakkensen & Lint Barrage, 2022. "Going Underwater? Flood Risk Belief Heterogeneity and Coastal Home Price Dynamics," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 35(8), pages 3666-3709.
    6. Bradt, Jacob T. & Kousky, Carolyn & Wing, Oliver E.J., 2021. "Voluntary purchases and adverse selection in the market for flood insurance," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    7. Yau-Huo (Jimmy) Shr & Katherine Y. Zipp, 2019. "The Aftermath of Flood Zone Remapping: The Asymmetric Impact of Flood Maps on Housing Prices," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 95(2), pages 174-192.
    8. Benjamin J. Keys & Philip Mulder, 2020. "Neglected No More: Housing Markets, Mortgage Lending, and Sea Level Rise," NBER Working Papers 27930, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Netusil, Noelwah R. & Moeltner, Klaus & Jarrad, Maya, 2019. "Floodplain designation and property sale prices in an urban watershed," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    10. Hallstrom, Daniel G. & Smith, V. Kerry, 2005. "Market responses to hurricanes," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 541-561, November.
    11. Ajita Atreya & Susana Ferreira & Warren Kriesel, 2013. "Forgetting the Flood? An Analysis of the Flood Risk Discount over Time," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 89(4), pages 577-596.
    12. Beltrán, Allan & Maddison, David & Elliott, Robert J R, 2018. "Is Flood Risk Capitalised Into Property Values?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 668-685.
    13. Matthew Gibson & Jamie T. Mullins, 2020. "Climate Risk and Beliefs in New York Floodplains," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 7(6), pages 1069-1111.
    14. Noelwah R. Netusil & Carolyn Kousky & Shulav Neupane & Will Daniel & Howard Kunreuther, 2021. "The Willingness to Pay for Flood Insurance," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 97(1), pages 17-38.
    15. Bin, Okmyung & Landry, Craig E., 2013. "Changes in implicit flood risk premiums: Empirical evidence from the housing market," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 361-376.
    16. Jesse D. Gourevitch & Carolyn Kousky & Yanjun (Penny) Liao & Christoph Nolte & Adam B. Pollack & Jeremy R. Porter & Joakim A. Weill, 2023. "Unpriced climate risk and the potential consequences of overvaluation in US housing markets," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 13(3), pages 250-257, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zabel, Jeffrey & Phaneuf, Daniel J. & Krause, Andy, 2023. "Introduction to the Special Issue Property Value Analysis using ZTRAX: Applications under the Approaching Sunset," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Justin Contat & Carrie Hopkins & Luis Mejia & Matthew Suandi, 2024. "When climate meets real estate: A survey of the literature," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 52(3), pages 618-659, May.
    2. Joakim Weill, 2023. "Flood Risk Mapping and the Distributional Impacts of Climate Information," Working Papers 2023.10, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    3. Joakim A. Weill, 2023. "Flood Risk Mapping and the Distributional Impacts of Climate Information," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2023-066, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    4. Graff Zivin, Joshua & Liao, Yanjun & Panassié, Yann, 2023. "How hurricanes sweep up housing markets: Evidence from Florida," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    5. Georgic, Will & Klaiber, H. Allen, 2022. "Stocks, flows, and flood insurance: A nationwide analysis of the capitalized impact of annual premium discounts on housing values," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    6. Brasington, David M. & Parent, Olivier, 2024. "Fire protection services and house prices: A regression discontinuity investigation," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    7. Netusil, Noelwah R. & Moeltner, Klaus & Jarrad, Maya, 2019. "Floodplain designation and property sale prices in an urban watershed," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    8. Ferreira, Susana, 2024. "Extreme Weather Events and Climate Change: Economic Impacts and Adaptation Policies," IZA Discussion Papers 16715, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Kendra Marcoux & Katherine R. H. Wagner, 2023. "Fifty Years of U.S. Natural Disaster Insurance Policy," CESifo Working Paper Series 10431, CESifo.
    10. Matthew Gibson & Jamie T. Mullins & Alison Hill, 2019. "Climate Risk and Beliefs: Evidence from New York Floodplains," Department of Economics Working Papers 2019-02, Department of Economics, Williams College.
    11. Marie Lautrup & Lasse Læbo Matthiesen & Jette Bredahl Jacobsen & Toke Emil Panduro, 2023. "Welfare Effects and the Immaterial Costs of Coastal Flooding," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 85(2), pages 415-441, June.
    12. Hashida, Yukiko & Dundas, Steven J., 2023. "The effects of a voluntary property buyout and acquisition program on coastal housing markets: Evidence from New York," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    13. Mutlu, Asli & Roy, Debraj & Filatova, Tatiana, 2023. "Capitalized value of evolving flood risks discount and nature-based solution premiums on property prices," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    14. aus dem Moore, Nils & Brehm, Johannes & Breidenbach, Philipp & Ghosh, Arijit & Gruhl, Henri, 2022. "Flood risk perception after indirect flooding experience: Null results in the German housing market," Ruhr Economic Papers 976, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    15. Liao, Yanjun (Penny) & Mulder, Philip, 2021. "What's at Stake? Understanding the Role of Home Equity in Flood Insurance Demand," RFF Working Paper Series 21-25, Resources for the Future.
    16. David Wolf & Kenji Takeuchi, 2022. "Who Gives a Dam? Capitalization of Flood Protection in Fukuoka, Japan," Discussion Papers 2203, Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University.
    17. Brent, Daniel A. & Ren, Yongwang & Wrenn, Douglas H., 2024. "Flood Risk and Property Market," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343651, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    18. Kristian S. Blickle & Evan Perry & João A. C. Santos, 2024. "Do Mortgage Lenders Respond to Flood Risk?," Staff Reports 1101, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    19. Ahmadiani, Mona & Ferreira, Susana, 2021. "Well-being effects of extreme weather events in the United States," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    20. Beltrán, Allan & Maddison, David & Elliott, Robert, 2019. "The impact of flooding on property prices: A repeat-sales approach," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 62-86.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Flood insurance; Real estate markets; Policy reform;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • R31 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Housing Supply and Markets
    • G52 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Insurance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jhouse:v:62:y:2023:i:c:s1051137723000402. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622881 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.