Property Insurance Costs Hit Record High

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Rising property insurance costs contributed to higher mortgage delinquencies last year, new data showed.
• Home insurance costs have risen 72% since 2019, but have recently shown signs of slowing due to flattening home prices and increased policy switching.

Property insurance payments hit an all-time high in 2025 and it could be pushing more people into delinquency.

The average annual home insurance payment rose by 6.6% in 2025, with homeowners paying a record $201 a month, according to mortgage data firm Intercontinental Exchange’s (ICE) Mortgage Monitor report for March. And rising insurance costs could be a factor pushing homeowners into delinquency, the data showed.

Homeowners whose property insurance accounted for the largest portion of their annual housing costs were deliquent 7.6% of the time. Meanwhile, those with the smallest portion had a 2.9% delinquency rate, the report found.  Overall, the delinquency rate was 3.6%, low by historical standards.

Why This Matters

Rising insurance costs are straining household budgets and may increase the risk of missed mortgage payments. For homeowners, higher premiums could directly affect financial stability.

“As more of homeowners’ housing expenses go toward property insurance, the more likely they are to be past due on payments,” said Andy Walden, head of mortgage and housing market research at ICE, during a recent webinar on the report.

Property Insurance Costs Jump on Rising Home Prices

Since 2019, home insurance costs have risen by 72%, and have been a leading driver of overall mortgage payments.

“Over that span, it’s more than twice the growth that we’ve seen in any other subcategory of principal, interest, taxes and insurance,” Walden said.

But there are some signs of moderation in property insurance costs. The increase in costs in 2025 was the slowest since 2020, Walden said. Furthermore, property insurance costs in 2025 didn’t rise as quickly as mortgage interest and taxes.

One reason for the slowdown in property insurance costs is that home prices are flattening, Walden said. The home price surge following the pandemic contributed to the corresponding rise in home insurance.

Another factor is that more people are finding new policies. Switching insurance providers hit an all-time high in 2025, with 11.4% of homeowners finding new policies, up from the pre-pandemic average of around 8%.

In some areas, an even larger share of homeowners found new home insurance policies. One in four Miami homeowners switched policies in 2025, saving $46 a month. The 20% of policy switchers in Houston and Orlando, Fla., saw savings of over $30 a month.

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“A lot more folks out there, either shopping for plans, and there’s some signals that that’s the case, or folks being required to switch providers because they’re being dropped from their coverage,” Walden said.

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