When climate migrants relocate due to sudden or chronic disasters, one of their first priorities is finding shelter, preferably in a home where they can quickly start the process of rebuilding their lives. Yet little is known about the impacts such migrants may have on housing markets in the communities that receive them. The inability of receiving communities to anticipate such effects can stress housing markets—especially where housing availability and affordability is already a challenge—and may require emergency interventions to support both migrants and existing residents.

This report provides an examination of the impacts of climate change–induced migrations on housing markets and institutions in three climate migrant receiving communities: the Houston, Texas, metro area, where residents of New Orleans relocated following Hurricane Katrina in 2005; Central Florida, where Puerto Ricans arrived after Hurricane Maria in 2017; and inland parts of Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes in Louisiana, where residents of coastal areas have migrated due to chronic flooding and sea level rise over the past two decades. This report is one of five studies of climate migration and institutional impacts in the project, which examines impacts to housing markets, financial institutions and financial health, employment and economic development, health care systems, housing and social, cultural, and recreational institutions.

Why This Matters

Understanding potential housing market impacts in climate migrant receiving communities can help housing institutional actors better anticipate, prepare for, and mitigate any challenges and plan for housing resilience in the long term.

Key Takeaways

• Before migration events, most receiving communities faced challenges meeting the housing supply and affordability needs of existing residents, which were exacerbated by migrants’ arrival.
• Migrants required assistance from receiving communities to navigate unfamiliar housing markets, find and afford new housing, transition to longer-term housing options, and access transportation between housing and other key services.
• Migrants initially clustered in locations with available housing and/or existing connections to their originating communities, which elevated occupancy rates in those areas but did not measurably increase rents.
• Long-term impacts of climate migrants on housing markets are difficult to observe, given variations in housing trajectories, timelines, and geographic dispersion, especially in the for-sale market.

How We Did It

This mixed-methods study used a combination of semi-structured interviews with housing professionals, advocates, service providers, and government officials, along with quantitative analyses of key housing market indicators in receiving communities before and after the migration events.