Climate - truthful information about climate, related activism and politics.

A trifecta of crises—accelerating climate change, a scarcity of affordable housing and escalating insurance rates—are threatening the one place where people usually feel secure: their homes.

“The cost of property insurance was a topic most people ignored, but it’s now a kitchen table economic issue for many families, and a risk factor for the housing market,” said Sarah Edelman, former deputy assistant secretary for single family housing at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Current homeowners are more likely to become delinquent on their mortgages after an insurance premium increase. Prospective buyers can’t find or afford homes. Developers can’t bring new units to market. And operating costs for landlords can reach an unsustainable level, Edelman said, with effects trickling down to real estate agents, the lenders, mortgage services—the entire housing ecosystem.

Compounded by climate change, the insurance crisis could destabilize the entire financial system, said Anne Perrault, senior policy counsel for the Climate Program at Public Citizen. ”In some ways, it’s just the beginning of a death spiral for some regions of our country.”