How Hurricanes Sweep Up Housing Markets: Evidence from Florida

A journal article examining the impact of hurricanes on housing markets and population turnover, finding that market responses to natural disasters can lead to uneven and lasting demographic changes in affected communities

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Date

Dec. 23, 2022

Authors

Josh Graff Zivin, Yanjun (Penny) Liao, and Yann Panassié

Publication

Journal Article in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management

Reading time

1 minute

Abstract

This paper studies the impact of hurricanes on housing markets and population turnover using microdata from Florida during 2000–2016. We find that hurricanes cause a temporary increase in home prices and a concurrent decrease in transactions, which together imply a negative transitory shock to the housing supply. Using mortgage application data, we find that incoming homeowners in this period have higher incomes, leading to an overall shift toward wealthier groups. Our findings suggest that market responses to natural disasters can lead to uneven and lasting demographic changes in affected communities, even with a full recovery in physical capital.

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Click here to read the full article in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management.

Topics

Authors

Josh Graff Zivin

Professor, University of California, San Diego

Yanjun (Penny) Liao

Fellow

Yanjun (Penny) Liao is a fellow at Resources for the Future.

Yann Panassié

Government Accountability Office

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