Catastrophic Hurricane Impact on Florida's Housing Market

Climate change impacts on Florida and its coastline have been studied and talked about for a long time. In this research study, we are examining how climate change, sea level rise, and natural disaster events such as hurricanes impact the housing market and price fluctuations in the Miami-Dade and Pinellas County in Florida. A common trend in climate change over the past couple of years would suggest the overall decrease in property values due to higher risk and exposure to natural disasters, higher insurance prices and flooding due to high precipitation here in Florida. The reality looks very different, which is why I utilized many known resources and input market prices into ArcGIS alongside different data sets to map the results of local fluctuations close to, before, and after natural disasters on both sides of the coast. To collect this data, I researched the Florida housing market, the past trends, and read through many different studies and experiences realtors or citizens have made in connection to natural disasters. Findings showed a surprising trend: after natural disasters such as Hurricane Helene, the market prices would increase. Whereas right now, after the first year of no hurricane making landfall in Florida in decades, prices are dropping up to 10%.