At the NAHB IBS meetings in Las Vegas earlier this month, insurance, insurance premiums, and retained risk were major topics of discussion among multifamily developers and owners.
And it is no wonder. Multifamily property rates have gone up every quarter for the past twenty-five quarters. Seventy-eight percent of apartment owners saw a greater than 10% increase in premiums from 2022 to 2023. One-third saw increases of 25% or more. Coverage that used to require three or four layers now routinely takes thirty or more. While pricing is said to be stabilizing, higher rates, driven by severe convective storms (think hurricanes and tornadoes) and $1 billion losses, are here to stay.
