No one knows when the next major hurricane could hit the Cape, Coast, and Islands. But if and when a significant storm occurs, it will bring days of wind, waves, and concerns. After the skies clear, the economic impacts could last for years. CAI’s Eve Zuckoff provides details on how this scenario might play out long term in the third installment of our series on hurricane preparedness.
"The Cape’s housing market is much more dominated by vacation rentals and second homes than other parts of the state," said Patrick Flanary. "How might a major storm impact our unique real estate market?"
Eve Zuckoff explained that insights can be drawn from similar regions like the Jersey Shore. Rutgers professor Clinton Andrews has studied how Hurricane Sandy affected New Jersey's coastal real estate market in 2012.
“The houses that were affected by Sandy that suffered damage, for three years they were worth less than neighboring houses, but by year four the market had forgotten. And they were worth just as much as neighboring houses,” he said.
In some markets, it takes even less time for this collective forgetting to set in. Locally, this trend offers reassurance to some homeowners about their investments but raises concerns for those already struggling to buy property. It also exacerbates conditions for year-round renters.
