For many homeowners, the cost of insurance is starting to feel almost as burdensome as the cost of the home loan itself.
Results from a new SoFi survey hint at a national strain: higher premiums, policy cancellations, and lingering shortfalls in disaster preparation are all making homeownership feel less financially secure, according to The News Tribune.
Here's what to know
In a SoFi survey of 520 homeowners taken on April 13, 2026, 44% said their home insurance premiums had risen to nearly the same level as their mortgage payments.
Thirty-nine percent said they had faced at least one renewal in which their premium increased by more than 20%.
Regional differences were pronounced, particularly in areas with greater exposure to risk. In the West, 62% said their insurance costs were as high as their mortgage payments, compared with 34% in the Midwest.
Nationwide, 23% said their coverage had been canceled or not renewed at some point since 2024, leaving many to search for new insurance.
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The specific threats homeowners worry about most differ by region, but hurricanes and severe windstorms ranked first nationally, with 35% naming them as their top concern.
Flooding revealed another gap between risk and protection.
Among the 13% who said nonhurricane flooding was the biggest threat to their property, only 41% had separate flood insurance.
More than 18% said they believed flood damage would be covered by a standard homeowners policy, even though that usually is not the case.
More background
The findings also indicate that many homeowners are investing little or no money to reduce weather-related risks.
A majority (54%) said they spent nothing on protective upgrades such as storm shutters or fire-resistant roofs.
Of the homeowners who reported no spending on disaster-mitigation improvements, 62% said they believed their existing policy would cover all rebuilding costs tied to weather damage.
Even among the 14% who said their policy would not fully cover rebuilding costs, 71% still reported spending nothing on mitigation.
If insurance costs were to double, 48% said they would deal with it by increasing deductibles or moving to lower-tier policies, while 33% said they would cut other household spending to make room for the extra expense.
Another 25% admitted that they were very or extremely concerned that sharply rising insurance costs could eventually make their homes harder to sell.
What can be done?
A practical step for homeowners is to examine their coverage.
That means confirming whether flood losses are excluded, comparing deductible amounts, and asking insurers if resilience upgrades could qualify for discounts.
Thirty-five percent of respondents said their insurer offered lower premiums for home-hardening improvements, and 85% of that group reported spending money on mitigation.
Among the 45% who said they did not know whether their insurer offered those savings, only 19% made similar investments.
Fifty-six percent said they would back a federal disaster fund intended to support private insurers and help keep premiums more stable.
Going without insurance can lead a lender to impose force-placed coverage, which often costs more and provides less protection.
Insurance is becoming a bigger part of the cost of owning a home even as many homeowners remain underinsured, underprepared, or both.
For a growing share of Americans, the idea of homeownership as a source of steady, predictable costs is becoming less reliable.
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