Politico has an interesting story this week about how many people in southwestern Florida have been priced out of rebuilding their homes lost to Hurricane Ian last year. The regulations in Florida require that if a house is destroyed, it has to be rebuilt to current safety standards, which is often much more expensive than the original cost of the mostly older homes. In addition, with many insurers leaving Florida, the new buyers often have to pay cash because mortgage lenders require the new owners to purchase insurance, which is much more expensive than in the past if they can even get it. The result is that many former residents have been priced out of their old neighborhoods and have been replaced by much richer new owners. That is changing the nature of the old communities.
