Since the 1980s, the U.S. averaged around eight major weather events per year that caused at least $1 billion in damage. In the past five years, that shot up to 18—and 2023 has seen 23 of them already. That means the housing market has a $23 billion problem, at least, and it's only set to grow as the climate continues to change. (Remember: this summer was the hottest daily temperature in at least 100,000 years, scientists estimate.)
But federal and local governments, as well as private companies, are working on ways to mitigate those risks and their financial impacts. Climate change can come across as abstract and over-politicized, causing many homeowners to tune out and ignore climate concerns, says John Rogers, chief innovation officer at CoreLogic, an information, analytics, and data-enabled services provider. And he agrees that it is just going to get worse. “The severity and frequency of major weather events, unfortunately, is likely to go up,” says Rogers.
