ICE Mortgage Monitor: Property Insurance Costs Rose At A Record Rate In 2024 Prompting Homeowners To Shop For Better Rates, Accept Higher Deductibles

ATLANTA & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, today released its March 2025 ICE Mortgage Monitor Report, based on the company’s robust mortgage, real estate and public records datasets. This month’s Mortgage Monitor analyzes the latest trends shaping the housing market in early 2025, with a special emphasis on rising insurance costs and the ways borrowers are adapting to protect what, for many, may be their most valuable asset.

Property insurance costs for mortgaged single-family homes rose by a record $276 (+14%) to $2,290 in 2024 with average premiums now up 61% over the past 5 years. Seattle (+22%), Salt Lake City (+22%) and Los Angeles (+20%) saw the largest percentage increases in 2024, while the largest increases by dollar amount were in Dallas (+$606) and Houston ($515). Premiums in Florida increased by less than half the national average on a percentage basis, but rates there remain among the highest in the country.

“While it’s no surprise that insurance costs are rising, we’re beginning to see emerging trends in terms of how homeowners are responding to the higher cost environment,” said Andy Walden, Head of Mortgage and Housing Market Research for Intercontinental Exchange. “We’re seeing increases in both the share of borrowers switching policies and borrowers taking on higher deductibles as a way to combat rising premiums.”

“ICE loan-level data shows that a record 11.4% of borrowers switched insurance providers in 2024, up from 9.4% in 2023 and less than 8% historically,” Walden added. “While this has undoubtedly been driven by rising non-renewal rates, it may also be a sign of borrowers switching providers in search of lower premiums.”

Markets with the highest insurance costs, which have also been the focal point of non-renewal activity in recent years, unsurprisingly have the highest percentage of borrowers switching providers. Nearly a quarter of mortgage holders in Miami, for example, switched insurance providers in 2024, the highest share of any major market, followed by New Orleans and Orlando (both 23%).

“The average borrower switching policies in Miami paid slightly more, but in most markets with higher-than-average turnover, borrowers who switched are paying less than those that stayed put,” Walden said. “For example, in Jacksonville, Dallas, San Antonio and Denver, homeowners who switched paid at least 10% less, on average than borrowers who remained with their old carrier.”

“California, where insurers have been reducing their footprint due to strict regulations and rising wildfire risk, stands out as a notable exception,” Walden said. “Borrowers who switched providers in San Diego, Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Jose all paid at least 15% more, on average, than those who stayed put.”

Separate research from the ICE Climate team suggests borrowers taking out mortgages in recent years may also be taking on higher deductibles to help offset rising premiums. Homeowners who took out mortgages in 2024, for example, had a 19% ($390) higher deductible than the average single-family mortgage holder. That same group had 12% ($284) lower annual insurance premiums than the market at large.

“As borrowers become more interested in shopping for the best insurance rates, there is an emerging opportunity for lenders and servicers to meet this need with embedded insurance comparison tools both at the front end of the pipeline and for people with existing mortgages,” Walden said. “ICE’s integrations with insurance providers in both our origination and servicing platforms have been aimed at exactly this opportunity as part of our continuing goal of making home finance as simple and transparent as possible.”

Further information on this and other topics can be found in this month’s Mortgage Monitor.