Finding insurance has become more difficult and more expensive in most parts of the country. Just ask home owners associations.
With a reflection of the trends in the one -family homes market, insurance companies increase insurance installments or get out of the entire HoAS property coverage, noting the high losses caused by harsh weather and old buildings. Acute increases in insurance premiums are usually passed to individual owners in the form of higher monthly dues.
For many insurance companies, HOA coverage is a relatively specialized product, but 74 million Americans live in those societies depend on what is known as the main policies for joint property insurance such as sidewalks and stadiums, and in the case of multi -capacity buildings, surfaces, some internal parts and external features.
These high insurance costs are other expenses that make home ownership a challenge to an increasing group of Americans. It also cannot be increasingly avoided: in many parts of the country, HOA societies are an increasing percentage of local housing stocks.
“All disasters and disasters have contributed to the rise in insurance premiums,” said Don Bowman, CEO of Community Societies Research Foundation. “Not only is the societies of residential units or community associations – it is every part of the insurance market.”
Read more: Do you have to buy a house with the House of Home Association?
Baumann said that the collapse of residential apartments in Servradide, Florida in 2021, was a turning point that made it difficult to maintain coverage, especially for apartments. Insurance problems also affected the Hoas consisting of homes for one family, but they are more depth in apartments, common homes and independent homes because these developments have more societal features.
Thousands of miles from Florida, on the outskirts of Minynabolis, the insurance broker Eric Scarns is facing increasingly difficult to find options for his customers in Minnesota and Colorado. In both states, insurance companies fear the damage caused by the cold, which can hit the surfaces.
“The days of two, three, or four options have been a long time ago,” said Scarnis, whose company secures, INSAURANCE WAREHOUSE, about 500 Hoas. “Most unions are lucky to obtain renewal.”
Mark Foster is a member of the board of directors of a complex consisting of 84 units in Lakefil, Minnesota. Since 2021, the insurance premiums have multiplied on the main insurance policy of its Hoa four times to $ 236,000. Despite his escape from many severe snowstorms that struck the region in recent years, the insurance company has dropped its association when the total value of the insured property exceeded $ 60 million.
He said, “We have been sent to the secondary market.” “It is very expensive.”
In the same time frame, Hoa’s monthly fees – which cover insurance premiums, reserves and maintenance – doubled to nearly $ 700 per month. In an attempt to avoid more pain for the owners, many of whom are retired and live on a fixed income, the Board of Directors chose to postpone some projects such as re -paving roads and updating the irrigation system.
At the national level, 31% of the housing societies reported that their insurance premiums increased by between $ 100 and $ 500 per home owner last year, according to the Community Association Research Foundation. 35 % of others witnessed increases of less than $ 100.
To maintain the coverage and low insurance installments, the VOSter Board of Directors voted to consider a different type of insurance policy that would reduce the total insurance value of the association, but it converts the costs of rebuilding interiors after the disaster falls into the owners, and it is possible that they require them to obtain more individuals The cost of policies.
He said: “There are definitely positives and negatives for this, but we are shocked about what happened to this market.” “We were not severely damaged.”
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The absence of any insurance, which is an option for some homeowners from one family who paid their property, is not a realistic matter for most apartment associations. In many cases, this is required under the law or in the documents that govern the association. Even if it is not the case, the insurance would most likely lead to the sales of apartments because obtaining protection is a condition for obtaining the most used real estate mortgages.
In some parts of the country, the Horn of Africa and the associated insurance problems cannot be avoided. About 84 % of the apartments offered for sale last year were linked to the Horn of Africa fees, along with about a third of the homes of a single family, according to the Reeltor.com website. More than 75% of databases in various urban areas such as Houston, Las Vegas and Orlando are part of Hoas.
Wilson Lyong, the real estate agent in the Gulf of California, said the apartment market is significantly slower than one family sales, as potential buyers refuse the fees and high property insurance costs.
He added: “This certainly affected the general living costs.”
On the national level, sales of apartments decrease and the inventory offered for sale. As of July 2024, apartments under the contract decreased by 5.5 % compared to the previous year, according to RedFin data, while the menus increased by more than 27 %.
The problem increases intensifying in the areas exposed to disasters in the states of Florida and Texas, as the insurance premiums and the Horn of Africa fees increased, especially. In Houston, the average apartment sales price decreased by 6.5% between mid -2023 and mid -202.
At the present time, the prices of apartments are still steadfast at the national level. Even as more stocks reached the market, the average selling rates increased by 3.9% during the middle of last year.
Foster, in Minnesota, believes in many aspects of life in apartments. Savings in costs can be large on services that can be paid in large quantities, such as the Internet and garbage collection. But insurance expenditures in his community are now almost identical to those on the homes of a single family with similar prices.
He said: “What they pay in insurance, we pay now.” “Perhaps a little more in some cases.”
Claire Boston is one of the top correspondents of Yahoo Finance and covers housing, mortgages and home insurance.
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