IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp11810.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Effects of Flood Insurance on Housing Markets

Author

Listed:
  • Indaco, Agustín

    (Carnegie Mellon University)

  • Ortega, Francesc

    (Queens College, CUNY)

  • Taspinar, Süleyman

    (Queens College, CUNY)

Abstract

We analyze the role of flood insurance on the housing markets of coastal cities. To do so we have assembled a parcel-level dataset including the universe of residential sales for three coastal urban areas in the United States - Miami-Dade county (2008- 2015), New York city (2003-2016), and Virginia Beach (2000-2016) - matched with their FEMA flood maps, which characterize the flood risk level for each property. First, we compare trends in housing values and sales activity among properties on the floodplain, as defined by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), relative to properties located elsewhere within the same city. Despite the heightened flood risk in the last two decades, we did not find evidence of divergent trends, suggesting that flood insurance may have cushioned the effects of the increase in flood risk. Secondly, we analyze the effects of the recent reforms to the NFIP. In 2012 and 2014, Congress passed legislation that led to important increases in insurance premia and updates of flood maps. We fail to find an effect of increases in premia on the values of floodplain properties in Virginia Beach and Miami-Dade, but we do find evidence of an effect in New York coinciding with the aftermath of hurricane Sandy. We also find some evidence of price changes for properties that experienced a change in risk classification in the new FEMA flood maps. We conclude that the full effects of the 2012-2014 flood insurance reforms have not yet taken place but will probably materialize in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Indaco, Agustín & Ortega, Francesc & Taspinar, Süleyman, 2018. "The Effects of Flood Insurance on Housing Markets," IZA Discussion Papers 11810, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11810
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp11810.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Athanasios Votsis & Adriaan Perrels, 2016. "Housing Prices and the Public Disclosure of Flood Risk: A Difference-in-Differences Analysis in Finland," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 450-471, November.
    2. Okmyung Bin & Jamie Brown Kruse & Craig E. Landry, 2008. "Flood Hazards, Insurance Rates, and Amenities: Evidence From the Coastal Housing Market," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 75(1), pages 63-82, March.
    3. repec:cup:judgdm:v:10:y:2015:i:4:p:365-385 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Joseph Park & Jayantha Obeysekera & Michelle Irizarry & Jenifer Barnes & Paul Trimble & Winifred Park-Said, 2011. "Storm surge projections and implications for water management in South Florida," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 107(1), pages 109-128, July.
    5. Laura A. Bakkensen & Lint Barrage, 2017. "Flood Risk Belief Heterogeneity and Coastal Home Price Dynamics: Going Under Water?," NBER Working Papers 23854, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. David M. Harrison & Greg T. Smersh & Arthur L. Schwartz, Jr, 2001. "Environmental Determinants of Housing Prices: The Impact of Flood Zone Status," Journal of Real Estate Research, American Real Estate Society, vol. 21(1/2), pages 3-20.
    7. 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.
    8. Lei Zhang & Tammy Leonard, 2019. "Flood Hazards Impact on Neighborhood House Prices," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 656-674, May.
    9. 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.
    10. Justin Gallagher, 2014. "Learning about an Infrequent Event: Evidence from Flood Insurance Take-Up in the United States," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 206-233, July.
    11. Kousky, Carolyn, 2017. "Financing Flood Losses: A Discussion of the National Flood Insurance Program," RFF Working Paper Series dp-17-03, Resources for the Future.
    12. Zhang, Lei, 2016. "Flood hazards impact on neighborhood house prices: A spatial quantile regression analysis," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 12-19.
    13. Ortega, Francesc & Taṣpınar, Süleyman, 2018. "Rising sea levels and sinking property values: Hurricane Sandy and New York’s housing market," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 81-100.
    14. Marc N. Conte & David L. Kelly, 2016. "An Imperfect Storm: Fat-Tailed Hurricane Damages, Insurance and Climate Policy," Working Papers 2016-01, University of Miami, Department of Economics.
    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. Conte, Marc N. & Kelly, David L., 2018. "An imperfect storm: Fat-tailed tropical cyclone damages, insurance, and climate policy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 677-706.
    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. Knighton, James & Buchanan, Brian & Guzman, Christian & Elliott, Rebecca & White, Eric & Rahm, Brian, 2020. "Predicting flood insurance claims with hydrologic and socioeconomic demographics via machine learning: exploring the roles of topography, minority populations, and political dissimilarity," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 105761, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Ortega, Francesc & Taṣpınar, Süleyman, 2018. "Rising sea levels and sinking property values: Hurricane Sandy and New York’s housing market," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 81-100.
    3. Bakkensen, Laura A. & Ma, Lala, 2020. "Sorting over flood risk and implications for policy reform," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 104(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. Agustín Indaco & Francesc Ortega & Süleyman Taṣpınar, 2021. "Hurricanes, flood risk and the economic adaptation of businesses," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 21(4), pages 557-591.
    3. Laura A. Bakkensen & Xiaozhou Ding & Lala Ma, 2019. "Flood Risk and Salience: New Evidence from the Sunshine State," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 85(4), pages 1132-1158, April.
    4. Ortega, Francesc & Taṣpınar, Süleyman, 2018. "Rising sea levels and sinking property values: Hurricane Sandy and New York’s housing market," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 81-100.
    5. Singh, Ruchi, 2019. "Seismic risk and house prices: Evidence from earthquake fault zoning," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 187-209.
    6. Daniel Broxterman & Tingyu Zhou, 2023. "Information Frictions in Real Estate Markets: Recent Evidence and Issues," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 66(2), pages 203-298, February.
    7. 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).
    8. 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).
    9. Robert J. Johnston & Klaus Moeltner, 2019. "Special Flood Hazard Effects on Coastal and Interior Home Values: One Size Does Not Fit All," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 74(1), pages 181-210, September.
    10. 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).
    11. 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.
    12. Seung Kyum Kim, 2020. "The Economic Effects of Climate Change Adaptation Measures: Evidence from Miami-Dade County and New York City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-19, February.
    13. Paolo Avner & Vincent Viguié & Bramka Arga Jafino & Stephane Hallegatte, 2022. "Flood Protection and Land Value Creation – Not all Resilience Investments Are Created Equal," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 417-449, November.
    14. Coulson, N. Edward & McCoy, Shawn J. & McDonough, Ian K., 2020. "Economic diversification and the resiliency hypothesis: Evidence from the impact of natural disasters on regional housing values," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    15. 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).
    16. Jose J. Canals-Cerda & Raluca Roman, 2021. "Climate Change and Consumer Finance: A Very Brief Literature Review," Consumer Finance Institute discussion papers 21-04, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    17. 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.
    18. Lu Fang & Lingxiao Li & Abdullah Yavas, 2023. "The Impact of Distant Hurricane on Local Housing Markets," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 66(2), pages 327-372, February.
    19. Lei Zhang & Tammy Leonard, 2019. "Flood Hazards Impact on Neighborhood House Prices," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 656-674, May.
    20. Eunah Jung & Heeyeun Yoon, 2018. "Is Flood Risk Capitalized into Real Estate Market Value? A Mahalanobis-Metric Matching Approach to the Housing Market in Gyeonggi, South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-17, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    flood insurance; climate change; real estate; cities;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H56 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - National Security and War
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • R33 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Nonagricultural and Nonresidential Real Estate Markets

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:iza:izadps:dp11810. 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: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    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.