Disasters are increasing property insurance rates and compelling carriers to exit markets. Without insurance, prospective buyers of single and multifamily housing eventually cannot secure mortgages, and existing owners cannot finance repairs. When insurance markets fail, they affect entire states and regions beyond disaster zones, leading to property devaluation and mortgage market instability. Skyrocketing insurance rates are already slowing single and multifamily- housing construction and impacting existing housing and family economic security.

Compounding these challenges are high utility costs, further burdening families. The lowest income families spend upwards of 30% of their income on energy bills. One in four American households — and 50% of low-income households — struggle to pay their homes’ energy bills to keep them warm in winter and cool in summer. Moreover, 63% indicate that paying utility bills adds to their financial stress. More Americans are forced to choose between paying for food or paying for energy.

Aging housing, insufficient insulation, inefficient equipment, and lack of access to in-home cooling exacerbate these issues as extreme heat and weather intensifies, thereby increasing costs. 20% of U.S. homes lack adequate insulation, and the median age of a home in America is 43 years. Alongside high energy bills and increased disasters is extreme heat where cities from Phoenix, Arizona, to Salem, Oregon, are experiencing longer and more deadly extreme heat events. Extreme heat is now the number one cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S., and the vast majority of deaths from extreme heat occur at home. Ensuring safe, livable and energy efficient housing as extreme heat intensifies is becoming more and more critical.