California Wildfire Costs for Homeowners Will Rise 85% in Two Decades, Forecast Says

California's wildfire challenges have quickly risen in recent years, and could grow yet more if the state doesn't prepare, according to a report.A report from the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley, estimates that wildfire could cause $5 billion a year in losses to owner-occupied homes in the state by 2047. That's 85% above the already historic average in recent years, a projection the report attributes to climate change.And for some cities, insurance premiums could significantly increase as insurance carriers expect ever-greater annual expected losses.California is still reeling from the catastrophic Eaton and Palisades fires of early 2025, which destroyed 16,000 structures, including 12,000 homes, causing upward of $131 billion in property and capital losses. But years of severely damaging wildfires have exacerbated the state's home insurance crisis, which is especially acute as thousands of homes are at high wildfire risk.Zack Subin, an assistant professor at the University of San Fransisco, who was a part of the study, tells Realtor.com® there are ways for Californians to prepare."We do have solutions, and it's likely, I think, that t...