The housing market has taken an unusual turn in 2021. Home insurance carriers, realtors, buyers and sellers, mortgage companies, and many more players in the housing market must stay up to date on today’s trends to manage and forecast 2022.
WaterStreet Company offers Policy Administration Software for carriers to manage the policy lifecycle of homeowners insurance.
Fall 2021 Housing Market Trends
Trends through this year have remained consistent with low inventory on new homes and rising costs to purchase homes. These trends are estimated to shift as we approach the end of September 2021.
The mortgage forbearance program, a program put into place for federally backed and federally sponsored mortgages throughout the pandemic, will begin to expire September 30th. While the housing market continues to experience low inventory, many homeowners are expected to sell their homes rather than resuming mortgage payments. An estimated 1.7 million homeowners are currently part of this program across the country.
At this time, the median price for an existing home sold in September 2021 was $311,800. September 2020 experienced a slow down in home selling and buying, however the median price is a 14.8% increase from September 2019.
The most overvalued locations to buy a home at this time include Utah and Idaho. As new inventory is released into the market, home prices in overvalued locations are likely to decrease. Other states include Texas, Michigan, Washington, Arizona, Nevada and California.
2021 Homeowners Insurance Trends
As of July 2021, a mid-year report by Matic revealed rising home insurance premiums have disproportionately affected senior homeowners and homeowners with FICO scores below 580.
2022 may be a unique time for carriers to consider ways to capture homeowners switching home insurance carriers. Senior homeowners who are not impacted by home buying or selling may be more interested in lowering their premiums. Those with a lower FICO score may search for carriers offering higher deductibles with lower premiums compared to their current carriers.
Carriers offering both auto and home insurance are at an advantage to upsell bundles to policyholders, simplifying the experience for the policyholder and retaining loyal customers with rewards.
Home insurance carriers can expect another wave of new homeowners at the end of 2021 and beginning of 2022 as the housing market gains new inventory. The millennial age group, the largest adult generation in American history, is continuing to save and settle down into single family homes as pandemic fears relax.
WaterStreet Company & Homeowners Insurance
WaterStreet Company is dedicated to serving all facets of the Property & Casualty Insurance Sector. Many incumbent insurers are held back by dated legacy systems and can aim for better technology to create and launch new policies for tomorrow’s homeowners.
We understand the importance for carriers and MGAs to adapt to market changes.
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