Insurance losses expected to exceed $100 billion in 2025
Insurance losses across the globe cost about $84 billion in the first six months of 2025 — and they're on track to surpass $100 billion by the end of the year.
A new report by insurance brokerage Gallagher Re found that the first six months of the year were the costliest for the industry since 2011.
Researchers said the bulk of the losses so far this year are attributable to the wildfires that devastated the Los Angeles area in January. Together, the two largest of those fires caused about $40 billion in insured losses, according to the report.
"This is a new market reality," the researchers wrote.
Sales of lower-priced new homes are on the decline
There's been a 75% decline in sales of newly built homes priced below $399,999, according to an analysis the National Association of Home Builders released Monday.
Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the industry group found growth in higher-end segments of the new homes market. The market share for properties priced above $1 million, for example, increased by 85%.
Jing Fu, senior director of forecasting and analysis at the NAHB, said the shift is the result of higher prices and tight supply.
"Rising construction costs — driven by inflation, supply chain disruptions, and labor shortages — as well as higher regulatory costs, made it increasingly difficult for builders to construct affordable homes," she wrote in a blog post. "On the other hand, low levels of inventory pushed up the price of new single-family homes, deepening the housing affordability crisis for first-time and middle-income buyers."
The trend has mirrored broader national home price trends, too. In the Northeast and West, where the median home price is higher than in other parts of the country, there were even broader declines in lower-priced homes.
In the Northeast, for example, fewer homes sold for less than $600,000; in the West, there were declines in three price categories below the $500,000 threshold.
Borrowers are feeling more optimistic
A survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York suggests that borrowers are feeling better about the credit market.
The share of "discouraged borrowers" — defined as survey respondents who did not apply for credit because they didn't think they'd get approved — retreated to 7.2% in June from February's 8.5% high. The metric was still higher than June 2024's level of 5.5%.
Despite this, the respondents in last month's survey said they are more likely to apply for a mortgage in the next 12 months. The survey's measure of mortgage application expectations reached its highest level since June 2023.