Thursday, January 05, 2006
Property Values and the Shoreline
Recently the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment issued a detailed evaluation of coastal erosion's economic hazards. The study, commissioned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), covers the entire US coastline. Within it are some chilling nuggets of information for Atlantic coastal property owners:
* Of 170,000 structures along the 2,300-mile Atlantic coastline that are outside cities but located within 500 feet of the shore, 53,000 are on land expected to be lost to erosion over the next 60 years. In all of the US, 87,000 houses fall within the 60-year Erosion Hazard Area (EHA).
* Property values shrink as the shore grows closer. According to data derived from an exhaustive 10,000-house survey, says the report, "a house that is 100 feet from the shoreline, but expected to reach the water in 50 years, is estimated to be worth about 90% of an identical house also located 100 feet from the shoreline, but expected to reach the water in 200 years. Similarly, a house estimated to be within 10 to 20 years of an eroding shore is worth 80% of one located 200 years away."
* Of 170,000 structures along the 2,300-mile Atlantic coastline that are outside cities but located within 500 feet of the shore, 53,000 are on land expected to be lost to erosion over the next 60 years. In all of the US, 87,000 houses fall within the 60-year Erosion Hazard Area (EHA).
* Property values shrink as the shore grows closer. According to data derived from an exhaustive 10,000-house survey, says the report, "a house that is 100 feet from the shoreline, but expected to reach the water in 50 years, is estimated to be worth about 90% of an identical house also located 100 feet from the shoreline, but expected to reach the water in 200 years. Similarly, a house estimated to be within 10 to 20 years of an eroding shore is worth 80% of one located 200 years away."
