Property

As Australian beaches succumb to destructive coastal surges due to climate change, Wendy Harmer considers the price of inaction at storm-battered Collaroy-Narrabeen

Sea level rise over the 21st century will not be as severe as many climate models have predicted and should not present a major issue for re/insurers provided it is managed appropriately, according to Dr. Judith Curry, President of Climate Forecast Applications Network and Professor Emeritus, Georgia Institute of Technology.

Total re/insured losses resulting from Hurricane Michael in Florida are estimated to be approximately $4.9 billion, according to data compiled by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (FLOIR).

DESTIN — With the goal of acquiring more public beach property, city officials hope to have appraisals of eight Gulf-front parcels completed within about the next two to three months.

Miami-Dade has tens of thousands of septic tanks, and a new report reveals most are already malfunctioning — the smelly and unhealthy evidence of which often ends up in people’s yards and homes. It’s a billion-dollar problem that climate change is making worse.

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) -- The Ingram Dunes is one of the largest undeveloped areas in North Myrtle Beach and like much of Horry County it is at risk of being developed. However, some still believe there’s hope to save the iconic dunes from becoming another developed plot of land.

HILO — A North Kona developer’s representative made repeated promises Tuesday that its shoreline will be opened to the public within a year, but most County Council members want it in writing.

Winter visitors are flocking to warm Gulf waters, quickly filling Vanderbilt Beach with towels and umbrellas. Look closer and one will see another sign of the tourist season in Collier County: security guards.

DEL MAR — For Del Mar natives, as well as the hundreds of surfers and visitors that traverse its paths, the bluff is a treasured and unique jewel. But several recent bluff failures between August and December have put residents and officials alike on high alert.

WELLFLEET — A controversial waterfront house that spawned house-size zoning restrictions in both Wellfleet and Truro now has an erosion problem.

The state has finalized the purchase of a sugar farm near Houma to relocate some of the remaining residents of Isle de Jean Charles, an island rapidly sinking into the Gulf of Mexico, as part of a first-of-its-kind federal program supporting the large-scale retreat from the effects of climate change.

The billionaire businessman reportedly spent $250 million on the ship

Recognition is spreading that communities need to build resilience to climatic and coastal threats even as the world seeks ways to curb emissions driving global warming.

With the recent widespread reports of sea-level rise triggered by global warming, the California Coastal Commission — a state agency which regulates coastal development — plans to release a proposal in early-2019 which provides guidelines to local jurisdictions on how to combat the potential impacts.

Apollo Bay, Australia - Minister for Planning Richard Wynne has refused a planning permit for a resort development at Apollo Bay, to protect the iconic township from inappropriate development.

A coastal village called Happisburgh is crumbling into the ocean, thanks to severe climate-driven storms.

Hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents live in flood zones that can become inundated with storm water. But the state is trying to move some of them out of harm’s way in one of the biggest home buyout programs in the nation.

Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier is urging Florida insurers to close the more than 42,000 Hurricane Michael claims that remain open nearly three months after the storm.

With the final adoption of amendments to sandbag rules during the Coastal Resources Commission meeting in November, some difficulties should be eased for waterfront property owners and Division of Coastal Management staff.

Officials from Surf City, Division of Coastal Management respond to concerns that some beach homeowners have raised of the negative impact these structure could have on a beach dune system left heavily damaged and vulnerable after Florence.

To combat rising seas, a Norfolk man is floating a radical idea: What if instead of flooding, a house could simply float?

By the time Folly Beach codifies a set of beach- and marshfront regulations meant to bring development on the long-exempt island roughly in line with state law, it will have been almost a year since the Edge of America declared what was to be a six-month building moratorium.

This year is the 50th anniversary of the National Flood Insurance Program, and this federally subsidized program has not aged well. In 2017, it had the second-highest claim loss year in its history. Hurricanes Harvey, Florence and Michael have exposed fundamental flaws in the NFIP.

WELLFLEET — The controversial mansion built in 2010 on the narrow spit of land in the Cape Cod National Seashore known as “the Gut,” between Great Island and Griffin Island, is in danger of collapse because of the rapidly eroding dune on which it sits.

Hurricane Michael survivors in the Florida Panhandle talk of stress or despair, which experts say can lead to anxiety and depression.

PORT ARANSAS – After the most devastating hurricane in Texas history, Port Aransas mayor Charles Bujan says his city is about 75 percent complete in the recovery process.

Changes to state sand dune rules adopted in late 2018 and now awaiting final state approval would allow oceanfront land owners greater flexibility to relocate wind- and storm-driven sand on their property.

Elizabeth Boineau's 1939 Colonial sits a block and a half from the Ashley River in South Carolina in a sought-after neighborhood of ancient live oaks, charming gardens and historic homes. A year ago, she thought she could sell it for nearly $1.5 million. But after dropping the price 11 times, Boineau has decided to tear it down.

More than 1,500 acres have been purchased to protect coastal wildlife areas in Jackson County using money from the 2010 BP oil spill, officials announced Wednesday. But thousands more acres could be added in the future. Up to $6 million has been allocated for the acquisition of up to 8,000 acres and habitat management of 17,500 acres in the Grand Bay area.

Recovery for homeowners and residents of Greater Port Arthur — some 80 percent of the city was flooded — seemingly has come at a snail’s pace, even for those with private insurance but especially for those who weren’t insured or were inadequately insured. Some beleaguered residents who needed immediate assistance were still awaiting it at 2018’s close.

The government has lifted a freeze on development of urban coastal lands, a move that could lead to a major facelift of these areas with renovated infrastructure, besides the setting up of employment-generating economic units and tourism facilities. According to a cabinet decision late Thursday, floor space index (FSI) and floor area ratio (FAR) would be allowed as per the current norms in the Coastal Regulation Zone-II (urban) areas, by lifting a freeze imposed in 2011.

Natural disasters cost $155 billion this year, and several of them struck the United States particularly hard. Hurricanes Michael and Florence, the California wildfires and Hawaii’s volcano eruption are all on the list of the most expensive global disasters of 2018, according to the Zurich-based reinsurance company Swiss Re.

America’s coastal cities are preparing for legal battles over real estate that slips into the ocean.

‘Extreme’ hurricanes, floods took their toll across our state as Charleston became ground zero for the threats of climate change

Each year intrepid travelers venture to the furthest, darkest points of the earth in hopes of seeing one thing: the Northern Lights. While you can certainly book a traditional tour in Iceland or sleep in a glass-roofed hotel in Finland to see them, some travel companies want to take viewing to the next level.

Owners of short-term lodging units in San Clemente have opined against the city’s laws that govern them since they were adopted in 2016. Now that the first 18-month grace period on those types of vacation dwellings has passed, entities are looking for clemency from the courts.

A study of hurricane-hit areas of the United States has revealed a trend of larger homes being built to replace smaller ones in the years following a storm. The research, led by the University of Southampton (UK) and published in the journal Nature Sustainability, shows that the sizes of new homes constructed after a hurricane often dwarf the sizes of those lost.

According to preliminary sigma estimates from Swiss Re, total economic losses from natural and man-made catastrophes in 2018 declined to USD $155 billion from USD $350 billion in 2017. Global insured losses are estimated to be around USD $79 billion, higher than the annual average of the previous 10 years.

Miami is the first city to study the impacts of climate gentrification, a shift in consumer preferences for higher ground as climate change sends sea levels rising that displaces poor residents of color in Miami’s few high elevation communities.

ST. PETE BEACH — A court fight over ownership of the white sand beach along the Gulf of Mexico could have a long-term impact on the public’s right to use that beach. St. Pete Beach and the Silver Sands condo complex have a trial date in 2020.

Increasingly severe flooding poses challenges from finance to farming. Nowhere in the world is more vulnerable than Asia from the inundation threat stemming from climate change.The impact of the Thai floods was keenly felt by reinsurance companies, which insure insurers for extreme events. "Reinsurance companies did not expect to have such a significant loss from this particular market," an insurance analyst told Nikkei.

While the Trump administration’s report last month detailing the effects of rising global temperatures said Maryland had begun feeling the consequences of climate change, lawmakers and state agencies already are taking steps aimed at combating it.

When 71-year-old Evelyn Brown describes her childhood home, she speaks of acres of farmland near Mount Pleasant that formed the backdrop for her earliest memories.

Analysis from the Surfrider Foundation outlines coastal states' responsiveness to shoreline erosion, rising tides and extreme weather events

George H.W. and Barbara Bush's Maine compound will continue to live on for their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren

South Florida’s real estate community will play a pivotal role in our region’s efforts to become more resilient. Our industry has enjoyed decades of growth and prosperity despite currency fluctuations, natural disasters and economic volatility. We now face our most significant challenge yet: showing the world how we will ensure long-term viability by hardening our infrastructure and adapting to climate change.

The challenges ahead from climate change are sobering. At least 13 federal agencies reported in the Fourth National Climate Assessment on the effects on sea level rise, hurricanes and other real dangers. And as the Tampa Bay Times editorialized, it’s grim news for Floridians.

LIVELY HEARING HELD ON FUTURE OF DOWNTOWN MONTAUK AND DOCK AREA

Beach nourishment, a method for mitigating coastal storm damage or chronic erosion by deliberately replacing sand on an eroded beach, has been the leading form of coastal protection in the United States for four decades. However, investment in hazard protection can have the unintended consequence of encouraging development in places especially vulnerable to damage. In a comprehensive, parcel‐scale analysis of all shorefront single‐family homes in the state of Florida, we find that houses in nourishing zones are significantly larger and more numerous than in non‐nourishing zones. The predominance of larger homes in nourishing zones suggests a positive feedback between nourishment and development that is compounding coastal risk in zones already characterized by high vulnerability.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — A regulation in Virginia's new building code could alter the look and feel of some neighborhoods near the state's coast in the coming decades.

ESRI study examines separate effects of proximity to coast and sea views with mental health impact

The end of the 2018 hurricane season is a good time to take a step back and see what we’ve learned from recent storms.

The mind balks at predictions of rising sea levels that threaten, in the not-distant future, to drown or dramatically alter Connecticut's treasured shoreline and lowlands. How distant? How altered? What should be done? What would it cost, and who would pay?

OCEANSIDE — As the city continues to mull over how it will regulate short-term vacation rentals moving forward, The Coast News decided to take a look at how various people are doing business within that realm and how proposed regulations might affect them.

Advocates say we could design city buildings and neighborhoods that cancel out more carbon than they emit, with the right policies and mindset.

Marine scientist Orrin Pilkey has long been cautioning about sea level rise and the folly of building and rebuilding along coastlines. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, he talks about why an eventual retreat from oceanfront property on the U.S. coast is inevitable.

WASHINGTON: The following statement was issued by Nancy Somerville, Hon. ASLA, SITES AP, executive vice president and CEO of the American Society of Landscape Architects, in response to the release by the federal government of the Fourth National Climate Assessment.

A new report says developers have an incentive to build on the coast and hope they'll be bailed out - and points to an astounding US case study. The incentives to build will become even more perverse if we decide what communities to defend based mostly on the value of property at stake, she says. At the extreme: The rich will get seawalls while the poor get moved.

t's commonplace in U.S. coastal areas and floodplains to upraise homes in order to keep living areas dry in case the water rises. However, mobile and wood homes standing a few feet off the ground could be a lot more susceptible to winds exerting force from underneath and increasing the force of loads on walls and ceilings—a possibility that has been studied little, until now.

Many World Heritage Sites around the Mediterranean are at grave risk from sea-level rise by 2100, report says

The increased risk of tidal flooding associated with sea level rise has already cost Alabama property owners more than $157 million, according to a study released today by researchers at the non-profit First Street Foundation and Columbia University.

A private island community in Beaufort County is suing the state over beach regulations — but in a twist, a homeowners association isn’t trying to circumvent the rules, but rather get the state’s help in removing six homes.

The end of November marks the end of hurricane season, and 2018 was a significant year for the Southeast coast in terms of damage and impact from large storms.

If one thing is for certain, it's that the barrage of weather-related disasters isn't letting up soon. Here, architects and researchers offer a checklist for increasing the resiliency of new and existing projects.

MEXICO BEACH, FLA. — Tom Adams, who runs Mexico Beach Charters in the Florida Panhandle, moved his main fishing boat, the Nauti-Dogg, about 4 miles inland to save it from the wrath of Hurricane Michael.

New Zealanders love the coast. We’ve spent decades building stuff hard up against it - underground and on the land. But it’s getting too close. Right now, the sea is advancing on the tens of thousands of people who live within 50cm of the high tide mark. And it won’t stop.

Seaside Signal - Authors of a new county housing study came to Seaside to unveil results from the report. “This process is not over,” announced project manager Brendan Buckley of Johnson Economics, a co-author of the study. Buckley and Jamin Kimmell of Angelo Planning Group presented two hours of numbers confirming what many in the audience already knew: there’s not enough workforce housing and for too many, housing is completely out of reach.

Recent hurricanes Florence and Michael, and the damage to our coastal region, highlight two things: Sea level rise and unequal distribution of wealth. Unfortunately, both of these are political as well as scientific. The current hyper-partisan atmosphere for discussing solutions is toxic and divisive.

Data from 500,000 smartphones reveals exactly where the island’s residents went after the storm, and when they came back.

Governors have a wide range of priorities they want to tackle in the coming year, from tax reform to education. Yet it's a topic that receives less attention on the campaign trail and in their speeches that could determine their success — natural disasters.

Airbnbers and other vacation home owners could see new regulations in Collier County. No real proposals have been floated, but that could soon change.

Houston commercial real estate fundamentals are picking up, but capital infusion into the Energy Capital of the World may be a mixed bag in the short term. “There is a lot of money on the sidelines that wants to be involved,” Belvoir Real Estate Group LLC Managing Director Matthew Goldsby said. “The market has passed the trough and is in the early recovery stages.”

Although the Trump administration attempted to bury the news by releasing it on Black Friday, the latest national climate assessment did receive some wide coverage. Of course, because the news is bleak and the practical evidence of how things are changing—worsening wildfires, storms, floods, and more—is there to see.

For 24 of the past 26 years, Eric Emanuel and his family enjoyed quiet living on Monterey Avenue, a Pacific Grove street lined with quaint homes built in the 1920s. Then two years ago, the duplex two doors down from him was sold and the new owners obtained two short-term rental licenses from the city, one for up to seven occupants and another for up to five. The quiet was shattered by the comings and goings of vacationers.

For community associations, short-term rentals are a hot topic in today’s legal and association governance landscape. Courts and localities are attempting to deal with the unique challenges presented by short-term rentals. Some jurisdictions are seeking to limit or otherwise tax short-term rentals.

For decades, one family fought to keep Malibu to themselves—but its natural beauty proved irresistible

Developers aren’t deterred by rising insurance rates, which are largely passed along to buyers and renters, or by more expensive building requirements. Higher costs have simply “forced more expensive development” on the coast

In spite of climate change, developers continue to invest in beach town communities, protecting themselves with new building methods.

Destin, Fla. - In Okaloosa County, beach front property is a hot commodity. Many counties and cities are hustling to buy land for public beach access. Destin is now joining that search.

These are the amazing and exclusively hidden island locations that are up for sale right now The Australian island's range from white-sanded beaches of Whitsundays to Victoria's Mornington Peninsula While some are enormously expensive, One island is no more than the median price of Sydney property

Many are finding themselves newly homeless months after the hurricane hit.

As Dare County municipalities try to address concerns about the proliferation of “mega-houses” and their impact on the character and environment of beach communities, the town councils in both Southern Shores and Duck met last week to explore new approaches to the issue.

Socialite Terry Allen Kramer is hoping to make her château-like compound on Palm Beach’s ‘Billionaire’s Row’ the wealthy county’s most expensive property.

Actor Liam Hemsworth shared a poignant photo Tuesday showing the Malibu home he shared with singer Miley Cyrus reduced to ashes. “It’s been a heartbreaking few days. This is what’s left of my house. Love,” he wrote in the caption.

CLEARWATER — Two Redington Beach property owners are suing the town, alleging unauthorized physical invasion of private land.

In the first of two major Florida residential loans this week from the firm, KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has lent $135 million to refinance a multifamily rental development in West Palm Beach, Fla., the real estate finance company told Commercial Observer today.

Report questions how seriously policymakers and officials have taken the threat from climate change. Advocate suggests that decision was made to stay put and ‘live with the risk’

OCEAN CITY – Neighbors near the bay around Second and Third street say they understand that flooding takes place throughout this barrier island community. They also understand that the city has ramped up its flood protection projects in recent years, Pete Sokolowski told City Council at its Nov. 8 meeting. Still, he said, flooding seems to be getting worse.

The specter of rising sea levels looms for the more than 40 percent of the U.S. population living in coastal counties. Because sea levels rise slowly and their effects worsen over time, the threat can seem remote. But even now, it’s clear that major financial losses are likely within the next three decades – the lifetime of a typical 30-year mortgage signed in the next couple years.

Unlike many cities in the U.S., where homes are selling within days of being listed, the housing market along the coast seems to be just the opposite. Getting the property back to normal after two hurricanes has been costly, but she says she’s not willing to spend more money on the house just to try to satisfy buyers.

The results indicate that large swaths of real estate value lie in areas at high risk of being affected by sea-level rise. More than 24 percent of the NPI value is in metro areas whose central cities are among the 10 percent of cities most exposed to sea-level rise. This amounts to more than $130 billion of real estate. And a whopping 67 percent of the NPI’s value, or $360 billion, is in metro areas whose primary cities are among the 20 percent most exposed in the United States

As of today, the fast-moving Woolsey Fire that continues to blaze through Malibu has burned 83,000 acres and destroyed 177 structures. There are two confirmed deaths and nearly 250,000 people displaced, the LA Times reported. The Woolsey fire is currently 10% contained and, unfortunately, more Santa Ana winds are forecasted to blow throughout today, and into Monday, as firefighters battle for the fourth straight day.

Government scientists are still trying to take the measure of the historic storm. Although Michael was officially a Category 4 hurricane, with 155 mph sustained winds when it made landfall, that could potentially be revised upward, to Category 5 - 157 mph and higher - in the ongoing National Hurricane Center analysis.

Text Size:AAA A new study led by researchers at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa indicates that as climate changes over the coming decades, hurricanes have a higher chance of landfall over the Hawaiian islands. Researchers from the universityʻs School of Ocean and Earth Science said this new pattern could pose severe flood risks along the coast and further inland.

The 2018 Herald Real Estate Survey polled 100 experts about Miami and here are some of their answers.

A constitutional amendment on the ballot Tuesday would give localities the option to offer tax breaks to property owners in areas facing recurring flooding.

In the next three decades, the global population is expected to grow by more than two billion people. That could be a problem. We already fail to feed the roughly seven and a half billion people currently living on the planet, so we’ll need to initiate entirely new agricultural systems to accommodate more.

The rules will now go to a 60-day public comment period, running from Monday, Feb. 20, to Thursday, April 20.

Only if You Believe In It

The house has a elevator and 3,242 square feet of living space.