Insurance premiums are skyrocketing across the U.S., with no end in sight to annual increases that may just make you rethink investing in real estate in several parts of the country. At the very least, anyone investing in 2024 needs to be aware of the states where insurance premiums are rising the fastest—and factor these changes into their costs.
According to a recent report by the insurance comparison platform Insurify, home insurance premiums are set to rise by 6% in 2024 after already jumping by 20% over the past two years. And that’s just the average. Many states will see double-digit premium increases this year thanks to a perfect storm (excuse the pun) of factors, most notably extreme weather events and high home repair costs.
Let’s take a deeper dive into these factors—and which states are affected the most.
The Impact of Extreme Weather Events
It’s clear that the sheer volume of extreme weather events affecting the U.S. is rising at an alarming rate. In the 1980s, the U.S. had three storms that caused $1 billion in damage each year. Fast-forward to the 2010s, and that number was 13 per year. In 2023, the U.S. experienced 28 such weather events in a single year.
Obviously, no one is surprised by hurricanes in Florida—but home insurers are increasingly wary of working in the state because of the frequency and intensity of such events. Home insurance premiums already are the highest in the country in the Sunshine State, with an average of $10,996 in 2023, according to Insurify data. And they are due to rise again by 7% this year, bringing the cost of insuring a typical Florida home to $11,759.
Other states vulnerable to hurricanes are also seeing huge premium hikes. Louisiana’s insurance premiums are set to rise a huge 23%, bringing the average annual home insurance cost in the state to $7,809. South Carolina and North Carolina are projected to see significant premium increases, too, of 11% and 10%,…