You finally bought that Sausalito (or Corte Madera, or Stinson Beach, or San Rafael, or Larkspur, or …) sea-side house, with views that go on for days. You enjoy going for walks along the beach and wiggling your toes in the sand; or strolling along the sea-side promenade. Or your home might be along one of the hundreds of creeks and rivulets that funnel down into the Bay. Either way, the “water feature” was a key component to your buying decision, and the price you paid.
But, did anyone warn you that the rising sea levels might – literally – have you “underwater” before that 30 year mortgage expires? No? No one mentioned that to you? Huh. Imagine that.
The Union of Concerned Scientists would like to let you in on a not-so-secret — rising sea levels could put 4,400 homes (in Marin County alone – 20,000 state wide) underwater.
As reported recently in the SF Chronicle, 4,377 homes with an assessed value of $2.7 BILLION dollars (in Marin county alone) are at risk of permanent flooding (26 times a year – in essence, every two weeks). That’s just Marin County. Santa Clara county is another 2,574 homes and $2.6 billion, and San Mateo County 4,100 homes and $2.2 billion. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is only a select few counties in Northern California. Southern California’s Orange County alone has 3,695 homes and another $4 billion at risk.
And you thought the mortgage meltdown of 2008 was bad for California? At least those properties remained in place for someone else to buy — and many have recovered that lost value. No one will recover from a flooded-out neighborhood, or City.
Does that mean that properties are over-valued in the mid- and long- term? That’s what the UCS thinks. What do you think?
Here’s the full article.
