CoreLogic, a California-based provider of information, analytics and business services, reported today that the impact of the BP DeepWater Horizon oil spill on home values in the coastal counties along the Gulf coast communities is expected to range from $648 million over one year and to as much as $3 billion over five years for the communities already being impacted by the spill.
In the coastal counties of Harrison, Miss., Mobile, Ala., and Escambia, Fla., there are more than 71,000 homes that will potentially be impacted. Of the immediately impacted communities, the largest overall loss in amenity value would be in Pensacola ($1.6 billion), followed by Gulfport ($1.2 billion), according to CoreLogic. n terms of average loss in amenity value per home, Gulfport ($56,000) is the largest, followed by Mobile ($45,000) and Pensacola ($40,000).
In press statement issued on their website: Mark Fleming, chief economist with CoreLogic, said, “Using well established economic techniques for the measurement of the economic value of environmental amenities an estimate of the loss in beach amenity value is substantial. While it is by no means a certainty that the major coastal communities along both coasts of Florida will be impacted at all by the oil spill, the lost amenity value in these markets could be particularly high.
“The total loss in amenity value in communities already being impacted by the oil spill to date is potentially as high as $3 billion over five years. Our hope is that the oil spill is contained and the loss in amenity value is further moderated by a speedy cleanup and a return of beach amenities to the affected communities’ homeowners.â€