St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch (far left) speaks at a roundtable on property insurance and climate change in St. Petersburg on Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix)
A property-value “crash” faces Florida and the rest of the country unless government leaders come to terms with climate change, Rhode Island Democratic U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse warned this weekend in St. Petersburg.
That is the solution to the property insurance crisis gripping Florida (and increasingly more states around the country ), Whitehouse said, lest soaring insurance costs spiral into a mortgage crisis and ultimately a property values crash.
“That is the word that Freddie Mac’s chief economist use,” Whitehouse said, referring to the government sponsored agency designed to expand the secondary market for mortgages.
“Florida is worst and first in what climate change is doing to property insurance rates, but I’m from Rhode Island — I know a preview of coming attractions when I see one. This is coming to all coastal areas of the United States.