(Bloomberg) -- Almost a half-million California homes worth an estimated $268 billion are at a high or very high risk for wildfire damage this year, according to an analysis by Zillow.
The 477,039 properties flagged by the U.S. Forest Service make up less than 5% of the total homes in the state and have an average value of $550,000. Zillow also analyzed the wildfire risk to homes in four major metropolitan areas in California: Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego and Sacramento. Riverside has the most at-risk homes. Los Angeles at-risk homes have the highest average value, at more than $1 million.
Federal officials have warned this year's wildfires could be even more destructive than last year's, which were the worst in the state's history. Those fires killed at least 85 people and caused more than $12 billion in property damage. The National Interagency Fire Center predicted “above normal significant large fire potential” in parts of California this year.
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California's high population density and above-average home prices have pushed housing development into the state's wooded areas, increasing the chances and costs of fires.
“There aren't policies in place that stop developers from building in high-risk areas,” Skylar Olsen, director of economic research at Zillow, said in a phone interview. “California homes are being built further and further away from city centers because that's where the available lots are, which could be putting more people at risk each year.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Sydney Price in New York at sprice86@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Debarati Roy at droy5@bloomberg.net, Christine Maurus
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