Homeowners insurance used to be an afterthought in the homebuying process, a line item settled in the final week before closing. In 2026 it has become one of the most consequential numbers in the entire transaction. Premiums sit near record highs, more insurers are declining to renew existing customers, and 44 percent of homeowners in a recent SoFi survey say the insurance bill now rivals their mortgage payment. At the same time, the newest data shows price growth finally cooling and competition among carriers returning.
Here is what the squeeze actually looks like in the data, and what it means whether you are buying, selling, or staying put.
What the latest data shows
Start with the headline figures. The Zebra's 2026 State of Insurance report puts the average annual homeowners premium at $2,966. Insurify's price projections report puts the 2025 average at $2,948 after a 12 percent jump that year, a cumulative rise of 46 percent since 2021. The firm projects the national average will reach roughly $3,057 by the end of 2026, and if that projection holds, premiums would sit roughly 50 percent above their 2021 level.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners added the most authoritative view yet on July 31, 2026, when it released its first national analysis of the homeowners insurance market. The report draws on data state regulators collected from 2018 through 2024, covering roughly 103 million active policies. Its findings confirm what homeowners have been feeling: average premiums rose in every region of the country over that period, with inflation-adjusted increases ranging from 18 percent to 43 percent depending on region. These are real increases, above and beyond general inflation.
A SoFi survey of 520 homeowners conducted in April 2026, and reported by Stacker in mid-August, captures the strain in plainer terms. Forty-four percent of homeowners said their insurance premiums are now large enough to rival their mortgage payments, and 39 percent reported a premium increase of more than 20 percent at a single renewal.
Nonrenewals are the other half of the story
Price is only part of the squeeze. The NAIC analysis found that company-initiated nonrenewal rates climbed between 96 percent and 216 percent across the regions it studied from 2018 to 2024. Put simply, the share of policyholders dropped by their own insurer roughly doubled or tripled in six years, depending on where they live.
