A $1 Trillion Time Bomb Is Ticking in the Housing Market - Bloomberg

Climate change is costing us dearly, and it’s only getting worse. I feel so intensely frustrated, largely because the preventative actions we could have taken were not mysterious to us: invest in renewables, transition from greenhouse gas-emitting energy generation, and put a price on carbon. We’re finally making some progress on green energy, than... See more

In Hawaii, where insured property losses exceed $3 billion dollars, homeowners face rising insurance premiums as a result of climate disasters. Californians are familiar with this pain: State Farm and Allstate have already stopped offering homeowner policies in the state due to a combination of government-imposed rate caps, expensive reinsurance, a... See more

If hazards stop being rare, stop being predictable, and/or produce damages that aren’t easily reparable (or suggest that a building should not be rebuilt in that location), the existing market structures for both property insurance and property more broadly won’t work.

Both Boomers and GenX’ ers bought their homes for around 4.5 times their annual incomes. When Millennials entered the US workforce, they could buy houses for circa 5.5 times annual income. In the COVID emergency, the US Federal Reserve generously printed $6 trillion through QE policies, and since then house prices have jumped to some 7.5 times annu... See more

Farley conceded that there are “a lot of underwater bonds in the banking system and that can pose financial stability risks because banks are leveraged institutions. If it’s levered 10 to 1 and you have a 10 percent loss, all the equity is gone.” Which, of course, is exactly what happened to Bear Stearns, which at times was levered 50 to 1, meaning... See more