The missing piece of America’s new housing strategy

Earlier this month, landmark housing legislation became law, marking the most significant federal housing reform in decades. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act rightly seeks to lower the cost of housing by building more homes and expanding access to financing. The next challenge is ensuring those homes remain affordable to own long after closing day. For too long, housing affordability has been defined primarily by the cost of building and purchasing a home rather than the longer-term cost of owning one. We must measure success not only by how many homes we build, but by how well they withstand the risks that steadily increase the cost of owning them. Severe weather is already making homes expensive to own Simply building more homes without accounting for severe weather would be a costly mistake. Homes unprepared for severe weather can cost far more to own than buyers anticipate at the time of purchase. This is not limited to coastal states: insurance costs have risen by 72% in Nebraska and 96% in Iowa in recent years. Insurance deductibles are rising too, increasing a homeowner’s share of a claim. These rising costs are reshaping the economics of homeownership. Severe weather ev...