Weather Weighs on Insurance, Home Lending Decisions
The cost of homeowners insurance is on the rise, and not just because property values went up – almost 20 percent across the board – during last year’s homebuying frenzy.
The cost of homeowners insurance is on the rise, and not just because property values went up – almost 20 percent across the board – during last year’s homebuying frenzy.
Boston officials have submitted plans to state officials for a $20.5-million flood barrier that would hold back Fort Point Channel waters from inundating portions of the Seaport District during coastal storms.
New research suggests Massachusetts homes face substantially higher costs from flooding over the next 30 years as climate change worsens the risk of strong storms.
Realtor.com is now no longer the only place to look up a home listing’s flood risk as awareness of climate change-caused flooding continues to increase.
Boston’s Seaport is a thriving, robust neighborhood about to deliver more than 30 million square feet of premier office, residential and retail spaces across hundreds of acres of open space, waterfront views and cultural institutions. While commanding some of the highest rents and sales prices in the city, there is an underlying concern related to climate change, resiliency and sustainability.
The National Flood Insurance Program is again open for business, despite a partial government shutdown that looks set to drag on as President Donald Trump continues to demand funding for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border be included in any new funding bill passed by Congress.
State and federal support for evacuees from Puerto Rico still living in hotels following last year’s devastating hurricanes is due to expire at the end of June, and the Baker administration warned that despite efforts to help families return to Puerto Rico or find stable housing in Massachusetts their options may be limited after June 30.
The National Flood Insurance Program has been in the national news recently in a series of unsympathetic reports.
The National Flood Insurance Program shut down at midnight on Friday along with most of the rest of the federal government. No new policies can be written during the shutdown, but losses sustained during the shutdown will be paid as usual, according the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which administers the plan.
Freddie Mac announced today that it is suspending all foreclosure sales and evictions through Dec. 31, 2017 in areas that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has declared eligible disaster areas as a result of hurricanes Harvey and Irma.