(Photo illustration by The Real Deal)
Real estate is famously all about location. And in Florida, climate change is expected to put some of the toniest locations underwater over the coming decades either permanently or during storm-driven flooding.
Insurers are taking notice and hiking rates accordingly. Developers and homebuyers, however, seem oblivious to the threat.
Florida’s geography makes it vulnerable to storms from both the Atlantic and the Gulf, where warmer water is increasing their size and intensity, and rising sea levels make storm surges more devastating along the low-lying coast. And hurricanes aren’t the only problem, as the amount of rain dumped by even normal storms has been increasing steadily for decades, leading to more flooding even in inland areas.