NEW YORK, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- As natural disasters and extreme weather events become more common, the U.S. real estate market will lose more than a trillion dollars in value as Americans move away from riskier areas and toward those expected to be more resilient, according to Property Prices in Peril, a new report from climate analytics firm First Street.
"But the great climate migration of the coming decades won't be linear. Americans will likely continue to flock to many of the areas that face the most peril, as local amenities and favorable economic conditions outweigh the mounting costs of climate risk," USA Today reported on Monday about the development.
The report categorizes neighborhoods throughout the country in one of several buckets: "Climate abandonment" areas are where climate risks and insurance premiums are high enough that population is declining; "risky growth" areas are where perils are high and premiums are rising, yet other social and economic factors keep people moving in.
"Climate resilient" areas attract population because the risks and costs remain contained. "Tipping points" are areas that are risky enough to teeter on the brink of losing population. A fifth category refers to areas that face little climate risk yet continue to lose residents because of lack of economic opportunities.
First Street reckons that, on average, risky growth areas will see a 1.7 percent decline in property values over the coming three decades. That's a broad national average, however; one of the most impacted areas, Tampa, Florida, could see as much as a 25 percent decline in home prices. Climate abandonment areas will see the biggest losses, averaging 6.2 percent.
