How Hurricanes will Affect Property Value in State of Florida

Hi, this is Atty. Roy Oppenheim from Oppenheim Law. As Hurricane Ian is about to make landfall in the west coast of Florida, many people are asking me, what is this going to do to the state of Florida and the real estate market in general? And the one thing I can tell you is that when Hurricane Andrew hit, the deck was effectively reshuffled. Same thing with Katrina in Louisiana and New Orleans. And so it’s fair to say that there will be a reshuffling of the deck, in some way, and there are going to be a number of issues that are going to come to fore very quickly. Number one is insurance. Whether all the insurance companies are able to pay their claims is going to be the first question. The second question is, how much are insurance premiums going to go up to pay for all of these claims? And then the next question is going to be pricing. What pricing will be affected? How home prices are going to be affected by the hurricane in the sense that if insurance goes up substantially or if insurance is unavailable for certain properties going forward, what are those properties going to be worth? And then, what are properties that still can get insurance and are not in the flood zones or in areas as prone to hurricanes, although the whole state is, but there are some areas that are less prone than others, are those values going to go up? And then the next question is going to be, what are these neighborhoods going to look like afterwards? I mean, entire areas may change in their composition, the topography of these areas may change. They may change for years or for decades, and so we’re going to have to see what impact that is going to have. And then, of course, the issue is going to be of delays. What kind of delays are there going to be in being able to get contractors and other folks who provide services to these homes in to make the repairs? And so this is going to be a continuing saga, and it’s something that’s going to last for years and years and years. In the old days, I remember when things were slow, contractors used to say, you know, “What we need is a good hurricane.” I don’t think anyone was ever thinking of a devastating event like what we’re looking at today with Hurricane Ian. So I wish you all the best. And should you have any questions or would like to discuss this further, please reach out to Roy Oppenheim at Oppenheim Law. Godspeed.