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Real Estate Investors Want to Know What Cities Are Doing About Climate Risks

The real estate industry is increasingly looking at how resilient communities are to natural disasters before deciding whether to buy or develop land.

Flood waters surround homes after Hurricane Florence hit Wilmington, North Carolina, in 2018. Worldwide losses from extreme weather events reached more than $3 trillion from 2010 to 2020. 

Flood waters surround homes after Hurricane Florence hit Wilmington, North Carolina, in 2018. Worldwide losses from extreme weather events reached more than $3 trillion from 2010 to 2020. 

Photographer: Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg
Corrected

After an increase in wildfires, storms and other natural disasters, many cities have begun both short and long-term planning for infrastructure that will blunt the effects of climate change. Their current property values could be at stake as well. 

Real estate investors and developers are increasingly considering climate risk factors when deciding where to buy or build, according to a report this month from the Urban Land Institute, an organization that promotes the responsible use of land. This has also meant looking at how prepared local governments are to face such events, according to the study, which was conducted with Heitman LLC.  The researchers interviewed firms including BlackRock Inc., CBRE Global Investors, Credit Suisse Group AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Moody’s Corp. and Morgan Stanley on how they are considering climate risk.