Flooding from a storm in March 2018 has been a familiar scene in the area of Ashworth Avenue in Hampton.
JASON SCHREIBER/Union Leader CorrespondentHAMPTON — Tidal flooding from rising sea levels has resulted in a $15.2 million loss in relative home values along the Seacoast, according to a new study.
Data scientists from First Street Foundation and Columbia University released findings of their housing market research on Tuesday showing the impact of increased tidal flooding on 2.5 million coastal properties in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
According to the New Hampshire data, Hampton Beach was the hardest hit with $7.9 million lost between 2005 and 2017. During that same period, other Hampton properties away from the beach showed $235,150 in value lost followed by $114,268 in Exeter, $112,501 in Dover, and $55,644 in Portsmouth.
The research found the biggest impacts to properties at Hampton Beach were the areas of Page Lane, Perkins Avenue and Wall Street.
A total of $403.1 million in relative home value was reportedly swallowed up between the four states, with Massachusetts losing the most at $273.4 million.
“Each time we analyze a new state we see the same phenomenon. Increased tidal flooding leads to a loss in home value appreciation. As sea level rise accelerates, we expect the corresponding loss in relative home value to accelerate as well,” said Dr. Jeremy R. Porter, a Columbia University professor and statistical consultant at First Street Foundation, a nonprofit focused on the impacts of sea level rise and flooding.
Property owners can see how much relative value their personal property lost during the 12-year study period and how much value it could lose over the next 15 years at FloodiQ.com.
According to the study, most of the homes affected by tidal flooding appreciated during those 12 years, but the appreciation was slower than other comparable properties not affected by the flooding issue.
The research comes at a time when Hampton is considering new rules to address flooding concerns in the Tidal Wetlands Conservation District.
Voters in March will be asked to OK a zoning change that would require new homes built within the district to be placed on pilings. The proposal targets areas like the salt marsh and Hampton Harbor.
Pilings would also be required for homes undergoing significant renovations.
“We’ve seen over a long period of time there’s more and more damage that occurs, specifically at the beach. We get a lot of reuse of older properties and (the zoning change) is to prevent that from happening in the future. If you get them up and out of where the flooding occurs you won’t have that property damage you’ll get that’s down low,” said Fran McMahon, chairman of the Hampton Planning Board, which voted last week to put the proposed zoning change on the March ballot.
While some beach property owners have said the tidal flooding in recent years has been the worst they’ve seen, McMahon said flooding has always been a problem, especially during major storms.
One difference today, he said, is that more people are moving to the beach to live year-round.
“I think it’s been an ongoing situation for many, many years,” he said.
Hampton Police Chief Rich Sawyer, who is also the town’s emergency management director, has lived in town since the 1970s and grew up on the beach. He said the biggest problem is from water coming from the marsh area.
“I would say that we have definitely seen an increase in the frequency, the intensity and the duration of the flooding issue, particularly in the beach area and the back streets,” he said.
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This story was originally published in October 2022.
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