Coastal property buyers ignoring climate change threat, expert says
An expert is concerned home buyers are disregarding the threat of rising sea levels as demand for properties on the coast surges. A survey by Quotable Value (QV) of property consultants and valuers found nearly all of them named coastal areas in their region as the places most likely to go up in value in 2021. But QV general manager David Nagel is warning Kiwis to be more aware of the risks before they make a purchase. Do your due diligence. Dont just adopt that classic Kiwi shell be right mentality actually look very carefully at the risks, he said. READ MORE: * Housing market 'insane' for buyers, but realtor says 'job is to get the best price' * Just how safe from the rising sea level are our beach houses? * First home buyers in Christchurch keen despite Covid-19 economic downturn One of the biggest being the ability for coastal homeowners to get access to full insurance cover in the future." Belinda Storey for the Deep South National Science Challenge found in December that sea levels are predicted to rise by at least 10 centimetres in the next 20 years. This is expected to increase the frequency and severity of coastal flooding in New Zealand, and could lead to more than 10,000 homes becoming uninsurable by 2050 . Nagel said it was unlikely a mainstream bank would lend funds to purchase coastal properties without insurance. That could significantly reduce the pool of buyers capable of purchasing coastal property and therefore could cause prices to drop drastically, he said. If we take heed of the warnings from the insurance council and the major insurers, it is just a matter of time before the landscape changes, literally! A Whangarei bach requiring a major job to bring it up to date sold for about $5.5 million in December. Ray White agent Ross Hawkins said that over the Covid-19 pandemic he had observed an increase in interest in properties on the coast. People are starting to migrate towards coastal properties outside the congested cities because of what is happening in the world, he said. This won't be the last virus that hits the planet and people are setting themselves up for the future with space and isolation. Nagel said coastal property remained amongst the hottest of hot commodities and he did not expect this to change. We Kiwis love the ocean. We want to be in it, on it and near it especially this time of year, he said. But it seems we have failed to heed the warnings for far too long now and I still dont think the message is getting through to most people yet. The sea level will rise and the odds of more extreme weather events are set to rise alongside it.