California’s ‘Insurance Crisis’ Blocking Housing Development Opportunities

As home insurance becomes more difficult and expensive to obtain in California, fewer housing developments are being built, according to experts. “Today, we are still not building condominiums in most of the state because of this insurance crisis,” Dan Dunmoyer, president and CEO of the California Building Industry Association, told lawmakers during the Senate’s Insurance Committee’s hearing Jan. 24. “This is a real crisis, and it’s real for our consumers.” Home insurers have fled the state in record numbers, with seven of the top 12 companies leaving in 2023, according to the California Department of Insurance. They’ve done so, they say, citing high inflation, rising risks, and an inability to recoup costs—due to the Golden State’s regulations covering rate approvals and allowances....