Pacific Palisades fire may spell an end to cheap homeowners insurance in California

Compared to home values, the average statewide premium in 2023 was the lowest among all 50 states, according to the Reuters analysis. California’s high property values may make that insurance seem relatively cheap, but even on an absolute dollar basis residents the average annual premium of US$2,200 was less than residents paid in 30 other US states.

At least six fires have burned near Pacific Palisades since 1980, including a 2018 blaze that was the third-most expensive in California history. First Street, a climate risk research firm, found that 95 per cent of the homes in Pacific Palisades face a “major” risk of burning to the ground.

Homeowners in Pacific Palisades paid a median insurance premium in 2023 of US$5,450, according to the data compiled by Mulder and Keys. That’s less than residents paid in Glencoe, Illinois, an upscale suburb of Chicago where homes are two-thirds cheaper and the risk of wildfire is minimal.

It’s also less than residents paid in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, the poor and historically Black neighbourhood submerged by floods waters during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 – even though the typical Ninth Ward home is worth less than 1/20th of the typical home in Pacific Palisades, according to Zillow.