Is flood insurance hurting the housing market?
by. Henry Meier
What really caught my eye about the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR)quarterly report on the State of US Housing was not the familiar litany of excuses for why, even though optimists continue to see robust economic growth right around the corner, the housing market continues to underwhelm (the weather was bad, credit is tight and the first time homebuyer isn’t buying, yada, yada, yada). No, what really caught my eye was the Association’s assertion that spiking flood insurance premiums are beginning to take a bite out of housing.
According to NAR President Steve Brown, “Thirty percent of transactions in flood zones were cancelled or delayed in January as a result of sharply higher flood insurance rates,” he said. “Since going into effect on October 1, 2013, about 40,000 home sales were either delayed or canceled because of increases and confusion over significantly higher flood insurance rates. The volume could accelerate as the market picks up this spring.”
If part of what is going on here is political gamesmanship, it’s gamesmanship of the best kind. The Senate has already passed legislation that would delay reforms mandated by the Bigget-Waters Reform Act of 2012. One of the primary goals of the Act is to entice private insures into the flood insurance business by phasing out government subsidies that insurers argue make it impossible to accurately and cost effectively price insurance in areas where it is necessary.
While the argument appeals to the free market guy in me, members of both sides of the aisle are justifiably concerned by the evidence that without amendments to this legislation, individuals who live in areas prone to flooding will see huge spikes in their flood insurance premiums. No surprise then that Congressman Michael Grimm of Staten Island is one of the primary proponents of legislation (HR3511) to keep insurance premiums from rising. It appears that House action on the bill is imminent, but the bill has already faced unexpected delays. At the end of the day, this is one of those bills that shows that ideology won’t trump legislation to help constituents stay in their homes.
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