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Homeowners insurance has traditionally been a background cost of owning a home, but in many markets, it is becoming a defining factor in housing affordability. Recent industry research and real estate surveys show that insurance premiums are rising faster than many household expenses, driven by climate-related risk, higher construction costs, and increased claim severity.

In this article, Cheap Insurance explores how rising home insurance costs are affecting homeownership decisions, insurer risk exposure, and the broader housing market—focusing on why premiums continue to increase and what these trends mean for buyers, homeowners, and lenders.

The Rising Cost of Homeowners Insurance

Homeowners Insurance Costs Are Increasing Nationwide
Homeowners insurance rates have risen steadily over the past several years, with many regions experiencing double-digit premium increases. These higher costs reflect a growing mismatch between risk exposure and historical pricing models.

Insurance carriers are responding to:

• Higher claim frequency
• Larger claim payouts
• Greater volatility from weather-related losses

As a result, homeowners insurance costs are becoming a more prominent line item in monthly housing expenses.

Climate Change and Home Insurance Risk

How Climate Risk Impacts Home Insurance Availability

Climate-driven events such as wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and severe storms are increasing both in frequency and severity. This has led insurers to reassess their exposure in certain regions, particularly coastal areas, wildfire-prone zones, and regions experiencing extreme weather volatility.

In response, insurers may:

• Raise homeowners insurance premiums
• Reduce coverage limits
• Increase deductibles
• Decline to write new policies in high-risk areas

These changes directly affect buyers’ ability to secure financing, as lenders typically require adequate home insurance coverage.

The Cost to Rebuild Is Driving Higher Claims

Inflation, Labor Shortages, and Material Costs

One of the biggest drivers of rising homeowners insurance costs is the increasing cost to settle claims. Even modest property damage now requires significantly higher payouts due to:

• Inflation affecting construction services
• Skilled labor shortages in the building trades
• Rising costs for core materials such as lumber, concrete, steel, and roofing products
• Additional cost pressures tied to tariffs and global supply constraints

When insurers project higher future claim costs, those expectations are reflected in premium pricing.

Real Estate Agents Report Growing Home Insurance Challenges

Insurance Issues Are Becoming More Common in Home Sales

Recent real estate agent Read more

CNN

By Jackie Wattles, CNN

(CNN) — Four astronauts are now en route home from the International Space Station, marking the first time NASA has brought a crew home prematurely amid a health concern. And their unprecedented early departure leaves behind a bare-bones staff to look after the outpost.

Only three people remain on the orbiting laboratory: Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev of Russia and NASA astronaut Chris Williams.

The four returning astronauts climbed aboard their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on Wednesday afternoon and, just before 3:30 p.m. ET, closed the hatch between the spacecraft and the International Space Station in preparation for their departure.

The Crew Dragon capsule then left the station at 5:20 p.m. ET.

It’s a less-than-ideal scenario. NASA has repeatedly signaled that keeping the ISS fully staffed is a top priority, as the agency aims to maximize the amount of scientific research it can conduct on the aging station before it’s permanently retired early next decade.

NASA’s new administrator, Jared Isaacman, made the decision last week to bring the four-person crew home early when the agency canceled a January 8 spacewalk slated to be carried out by American astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman.

“For over 60 years, NASA’s set the standard for safety and security in crewed spaceflight,” Isaacman said during a news conference last week. “In these endeavors, including the 25 years of continuous human presence on board the International Space Station, the health and the well-being of our astronauts is always and will be our highest priority.”

Fincke and Cardman, along with astronaut Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, are part of the Crew-11 mission that’s leaving the space station. NASA did not say which crew member is experiencing a medical concern — nor did the space agency provide any details about the nature of the condition, citing privacy concerns. However, NASA has said the affected astronaut is in stable condition.

“Everyone on board is stable, safe, and well cared for,” Fincke confirmed in a statement posted to LinkedIn. “This was a deliberate decision to allow the right medical evaluations to happen on the ground, where the full range of diagnostic capability exists. It’s the right call, even if it’s a bit bittersweet.”

The Crew-11 team is slated to splash down in the Pacific Ocean aboard the Crew Dragon capsule around 3:40 a.m. ET Thursday.

Meanwhile, NASA is working to expedite the launch of a replacement crew, called Crew-12, which originally had been slated for mid-February.

What an understaffed ISS means

The space station hasn’t had such a small crew on board in years. However, during a news conference last week, Amit Kshatriya, NASA’s associate administrato

By Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump enacted a new 25% tariff on “certain advanced computing chips” on Wednesday, according to a White House fact sheet. That includes Nvidia’s H200 chip and AMD’s MI325X. However, chips imported to support building up the US technological supply chain would be exempt.

It’s unclear, though, what criteria would need to be met to qualify for the exemption. The White House did not immediately respond to CNN’s inquiry.
The White House fact sheet also warned that the president in the near future “may impose broader tariffs on imports of semiconductors and their derivative products.”

In enacting the tariff, Trump cited national security concerns and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows presidents to address such concerns with tariffs on specific products.

AMD and Nvidia did not immediately respond to CNN’s requests for comment.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

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FILLMORE, Calif. (KEYT) – Skeletal remains discovered outside of Geneseo, Illinois in October of 1966 have been identified as missing 19-year-old Ronald Joseph Cole who vanished from Fillmore the year prior.

On Oct. 27, 1966, a postman found a human skull near a creek southeast of Geneseo in northwest Illinois stated a press release Wednesday from the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit founded in 2017 to identify John and Jane Does using investigative genealogy.

According to the DNA Doe Project, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) spotted a bullet hole at the base of the recovered skull which was determined to be the cause of death for the man who had died between one and five years before the postman's discovery.

A search of the area resulted in the discovery of more skeletal remains and it was verified that the John Doe was a man between the ages of 16 and 30 shared the DNA Doe Project.

The case remained unsolved until the Henry County Sheriff's Office brought the DNA Doe Project into their investigation in 2024.

The nonprofit generated a DNA profile of the unidentified man and uploaded those results to GEDmatch, a genetic genealogy research database, and a number of DNA matches in the second and third cousin range were connected to the deceased.

"We are very grateful for the relatives who chose to upload their DNA results to GEDmatch," explained Gwen Knapp who led the DNA Doe Project team investigation. "Unusually, our team had good matches on both the father’s side and the mother’s side to work with."

In May of 2025, members of the Sheriff's Cold Case Unit began to work alongside investigators with the Henry County Sheriff's Office and on Jan. 10, 2026, the DNA Doe Project confirmed that the remains discovered in 1966 were Ronald Cole detailed the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

According to the Ventura County Sheriff's office, Cole has been missing since May of 1965 and his disappearance was first reported to the Fillmore Police Department in late October 1983.

His last known location was at a family home in the 400 block of Foothill Drive and family members believed that Cole's half-brother, David La Fever, was responsible for his disappearance shared the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

A missing person investigation was started in August of 1984 and David La Fever was named the prime suspect, but investigators were unable to find any physical evidence of a crime and the case has remained open through the years noted the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

In 1983, La Fever and his wife Margaret were arrested and convicted on unrelated charges of child pornography and child abuse in Arizona.

The following year, the body of Margaret's brother, Jon Brian Skaggs, -who had been missing since 1977- was discovered near the La Fever's former home in Galt, California with a gunshot wound.

David nor Margaret were ever charged in either case.

David La Fever died on Aug. 12, 2007 in Anchorage, Alaska added the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

The post Skeletal remains discovered in 1966 identified as missing Fillmore teen Ronald Joseph Cole appeared first on N

FILLMORE, Calif. (KEYT) – Skeletal remains discovered outside of Geneseo, Illinois in October of 1966 have been identified as missing 19-year-old Ronald Joseph Cole who vanished from Fillmore the year prior.

On Oct. 27, 1966, a postman found a human skull near a creek southeast of Geneseo in northwest Illinois stated a press release Wednesday from the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit founded in 2017 to identify John and Jane Does using investigative genealogy.

According to the DNA Doe Project, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) spotted a bullet hole at the base of the recovered skull which was determined to be the cause of death for the man who had died between one and five years before the postman's discovery.

A search of the area resulted in the discovery of more skeletal remains and it was verified that the John Doe was a man between the ages of 16 and 30 shared the DNA Doe Project.

The case remained unsolved until the Henry County Sheriff's Office brought the DNA Doe Project into their investigation in 2024.

The nonprofit generated a DNA profile of the unidentified man and uploaded those results to GEDmatch, a genetic genealogy research database, and a number of DNA matches in the second and third cousin range were connected to the deceased.

"We are very grateful for the relatives who chose to upload their DNA results to GEDmatch," explained Gwen Knapp who led the DNA Doe Project team investigation. "Unusually, our team had good matches on both the father’s side and the mother’s side to work with."

In May of 2025, members of the Sheriff's Cold Case Unit began to work alongside investigators with the Henry County Sheriff's Office and on Jan. 10, 2026, the DNA Doe Project confirmed that the remains discovered in 1966 were Ronald Cole detailed the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

According to the Ventura County Sheriff's office, Cole has been missing since May of 1965 and his disappearance was first reported to the Fillmore Police Department in late October 1983.

His last known location was at a family home in the 400 block of Foothill Drive and family members believed that Cole's half-brother, David La Fever, was responsible for his disappearance shared the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

A missing person investigation was started in August of 1984 and David La Fever was named the prime suspect, but investigators were unable to find any physical evidence of a crime and the case has remained open through the years noted the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

In 1983, La Fever and his wife Margaret were arrested and convicted on unrelated charges of child pornography and child abuse in Arizona.

The following year, the body of Margaret's brother, Jon Brian Skaggs, -who had been missing since 1977- was discovered near the La Fever's former home in Galt, California with a gunshot wound.

David nor Margaret were ever charged in either case.

David La Fever died on Aug. 12, 2007 in Anchorage, Alaska added the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

The post Skeletal remains discovered in 1966 identified as missing Fillmore teen Ronald Joseph Cole appeared first o