New Insurify report: Climate change, mortgage woes stress homeowners

Home market volatility will likely continue in 2023, as home insurance rates continue to rise, home values drop, and an alarming number of new mortgages are already underwater, according to the 2023 Insuring the American Homeowner report by Insurify, America’s top-rated insurance comparison platform.

“The cost of individual policies is rising. Homeowners may notice an increase of hundreds of dollars for one year to the next,” Shawn Powers, Insurify’s Vice President of Insurance Sales said. “This may induce homeowners to shop around with multiple companies for a policy. While this is a great way to find a better price, homeowners may find their current carrier is not alone in raising rates."

The report reveals:

• Insurify projects home insurance rates will increase an additional 9%, following a 7% increase from the previous year.
• Home values and home-buying in western states are declining, with an average 31% drop in home sales among major metropolitan areas like Las Vegas, Provo, San Jose, Seattle, and San Diego.
• Among new homeowners who bought in the past year, 27% are already underwater, and 58% worry that they will soon be.
• About 89% of homeowners were confident that they had enough home insurance, and close to 98% were at least moderately confident that their insurer would resolve their claim to their satisfaction.

Insurify also found that American homeowners are increasingly concerned over the impact of climate change on their home values. Even homeowners in cities like Boise, Idaho, and Columbus, Ohio, who aren’t often exposed to natural disasters, displayed high levels of concern on the matter.

Homeowners surveyed for the report identified mortgage payments and losing property value as major stressors. This insight is especially compelling as the Fed announced another quarter-point increase in its benchmark interest rate, putting it above 5% for the first time in more than 15 years. These increases are part of the reason why 24% of Insurify’s survey respondents were underwater on their mortgage.

The report, which features Insurify’s own proprietary data, in addition to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and other publicly available sources also highlighted:

• The average annual home insurance rate will rise from $1,636 in 2022 to $1,784 in 2023.
• More severe weather, supply chain delays, and higher material and labor costs are the biggest reasons why home insurance rates are continuing to increase.
• Home security is the biggest stress point of owning a home; nearly 24% of those surveyed cite it as their top concern. Unsurprisingly, theft was the most common home insurance claim identified by the survey.

See Insurify’s 2023 Insuring the American Homeowner report for more insights on real estate, population trends, homeownership, and insurance rates.

About Insurify

Based in Cambridge, MA, Insurify, America's top-rated virtual insurance agent, provides expert advice and empowers customers to securely compare, buy, and manage their auto and home insurance policies from the largest selection of accurate quotes. With more than 70 million quotes served and $200B in insurance coverage, Insurify has won several insurance industry awards, including Forbes NextBillion Dollar Startups of 2022, WPO’s 50 Fastest Growing Women-Owned and -Led Companies 2022, Inc.’s 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in America of 2022 and 2021, Forbes Fintech 50 List for 2021, Stevies’ Gold International Business Award for a Medium-Sized Insurance Company 2021, EY’s 2021 New England Entrepreneur of the Year, and Insurtech Insights’ Future 50 2021.

For more information, visit www.insurify.com.

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