PORT LAMPLIGHT, Fla. — Speaking to reporters Wednesday from the front lawn of a four-bedroom listing, or from what county records still describe as a front lawn, real estate agent Brent Kalloway assured buyers that coastal property values remain “incredibly strong,” a forecast he delivered while standing in water up to his belt.
“Every indicator I’m looking at is up,” said Kalloway, 51, of Sunward Shores Realty, gesturing toward a tide gauge, a storm drain running in reverse and a mailbox whose raised flag was the last part of it above the surface. “Inventory is moving. Inventory is literally moving. A dock went by about twenty minutes ago. Somebody’s going to get a great deal on that dock.”
The 2,400-square-foot home is listed at $1.9 million, up $200,000 since Monday. Kalloway credits the increase to a recent upgrade the seller did not pay for: water views from every room, including the inside of every room. “People hear ‘water in the living room’ and they panic,” he said, stepping carefully around a submerged birdbath. “I hear ‘indoor-outdoor flow.’”
Researchers have suggested the market may not be pricing in everything. A 2023 study in the journal Nature Climate Change estimated that U.S. homes exposed to flood risk are overvalued by $121 billion to $237 billion, more than $50 billion of it in Florida, and found that the overvaluation clusters in coastal counties with no flood-risk disclosure laws. Kalloway called the figure “a very bullish number.”
“That’s up to two hundred thirty-seven billion dollars of value the market has already agreed not to notice,” he said. “You can’t buy confidence like that. Well, you can. From me. Today.” Asked whether he had disclosed the flood risk to buyers, Kalloway said the house “discloses itself,” and pointed out that the front door now opens in either direction depending on the tide.
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Valuations are for marketing purposes only and assume the water is a feature. Standard homeowners policies do not cover flooding. Neither does this tool. Sunward Shores Realty is not responsible for comps that drift into neighboring counties.
The industry has been careful to help. Late last year, Zillow removed climate risk scores from its for-sale listings after agents and a regional listing service complained about the scores’ accuracy and their effect on sales, a move Kalloway described as “the single most effective flood mitigation measure in American history.” “The water didn’t go anywhere,” he said. “But the number did. And buyers look at the number.” The scores still appear on Redfin and Realtor.com, sites Kalloway said he “does not recommend to clients who are trying to stay positive.”
The federal government has been less supportive. NOAA has reported record numbers of high tide flood days along the Southeast and Gulf coasts in recent years, often on clear days with no storm involved, and projects that by 2050 many coastal communities will flood at high tide dozens of days a year. “Dozens of days a year of complimentary water,” Kalloway said. “In this economy?” He added that his firm has stopped using the phrase “high tide flooding” in listings in favor of “seasonal lagoon access.”
Insurance, he conceded, is “a conversation.” Florida homeowners pay some of the highest premiums in the country, several of the state’s property insurers have failed or pulled back since 2022, and standard homeowners policies do not cover flooding at all. Kalloway said the home comes with “a very motivated insurer,” whom he described as having tried to leave the state since 2022 and as currently “between voicemails.”
Demand, by most accounts, remains high. One couple from Ohio, who toured the property by kayak, told reporters they loved the open floor plan, which Kalloway explained is open because the floor left. They submitted an offer he called “over asking and under water,” and asked whether the dock was included. “Not this one,” Kalloway said, watching it go. “But there will be others.”
Ask Brent: Live From The Lawn
Brent is standing by, and standing in it, to answer your questions about the coastal market. Every answer is honest. Every answer is also positive.
Brent is a licensed real estate professional and not a hydrologist, a meteorologist, an insurance agent or, at current water levels, entirely visible. Answers do not constitute disclosure.
The neighbors were supportive. Next door, a homeowner stood on his roof holding a hand-lettered sign reading “NOT SELLING,” which Kalloway called “the strongest possible signal of confidence in this area.” Across the street, the homeowners association posted a notice fining the Atlantic Ocean $250 for unapproved lawn coverage, its third citation this month. The ocean did not respond, although Kalloway said it was “clearly very interested in the neighborhood.”
“He is standing in it. He is describing it accurately. He is just using the vocabulary of a brochure,” said Dr. Renata Oyelaran, a hydrologist at the Institute for Foreseeable Outcomes, who watched the briefing from a folding chair on a neighbor’s second-floor balcony. Kalloway dismissed the criticism. “With respect, she lives on a hill,” he said. “Which is honestly a very weak position in this market.”
By the forty-minute mark, the water had reached Kalloway’s chest, and he was holding his phone above his head to read comparable sales aloud. “The comps are strong,” he said. “Every comp on this street is underwater, which is where comps are strongest.” He then announced that the seller had accepted the Ohio couple’s offer, contingent on an inspection the inspector had agreed to conduct by snorkel.
At press time, Kalloway, by then visible only from the nose up, confirmed that the coastal market had never been more liquid.
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