Natural disasters

Reps. Ed Royce, R-Calif., and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., introduced a bipartisan package of legislation Tuesday to extend the National Flood Insurance Program through Nov. 30.

Hanging over the Sonoma County, Calif., housing market is the damage done by the most destructive wildfires in state history. The fires of October claimed 24 lives and burned nearly 5,300 homes in the county.

Once again, congressional inaction on reauthorizing the National Flood Insurance Program is prompting concerns about what a lapse in coverage could mean for loan closings.

The small decrease in Hawaii island single-family home sales was influenced by a major decline in the Puna district where homes in four subdivisions have been destroyed by lava since May.

Sonoma County supervisors have signed off on a wide-ranging suite of policy changes intended to encourage construction of more new homes seven months after nearly 5,300 residences were lost here in last year's devastating wildfires.

Real estate brokers said it could easily be a year or two before property values in the immediate and surrounding areas of lava breakouts recover after the eruption ceases.

As Congress moves quickly toward passing regulatory relief legislation, another financial services policy goal — long-term reform of the National Flood Insurance Program — remains stalled.

Still shaken from last fall's wildfires, the Sonoma County, Calif., housing market saw its inventory drop in January to the lowest level for the month in more than a quarter-century.

Senate leaders have unveiled a budget agreement that includes $64.2 billion to help states and U.S. territories recover from last year's hurricanes, wildfires and other disasters.

Regulators said they were taking steps to recognize contributions to the recovery made by banks anywhere in the nation.

Area campgrounds reported a rush on bookings in the immediate aftermath of the fires.

The government shutdown and Congress' inability to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program could delay some home sales and loan closings.

Fueled by a rush for housing after wildfires burned thousands of homes, a record amount of money changed hands in the Sonoma County, Calif., real estate market at the end of 2017.

The Southern California wildfires are causing additional inventory shortages in what is already a tight housing market, Redfin said.

Two months after the October wildfires leveled more than 3,000 homes in Santa Rosa, Calif., "For Sale" signs are popping on vacant lots in Coffey Park and other fire-ravaged neighborhoods

Numerous business sectors are urging lawmakers to act quickly to extend the National Flood Insurance Program before a crucial deadline next week.

Seven flood-prone Highland Park, Ill., homes adjacent to forks of the North Branch of the Chicago River could potentially be purchased, demolished and converted to open space under a voluntary flood buyout.

Home Depot saw sales surge in the wake of this year's barrage of hurricanes, but the storms still took a toll on the retailer's bottom line.

Sonoma County, Calif., renters, property managers and housing advocates say the October wildfires grabbed hold of a constrained rental market and squeezed it by the throat.

A securities settlement, portfolio asset sales and greater interest among smaller lenders helped Freddie Mac compensate for potential losses from the catastrophic hurricane season.