Beyond the Buildings

The historical map of natural hazard risk is no longer the best way to navigate. Thirty-two million homeowners — many of whom have long considered their homes outside of hurricane paths — are seeing their perceptions of risk shift. This shift has the potential to destabilize markets across the U.S.

In this episode:

2:46 – What does hurricane risk look like across the U.S.?

6:08 – Will El Niño affect property risk long-term?

8:38 – How big is this gap in structural preparedness between coastal communities and inland communities?

12:06 – Allie Barefoot breaks down the latest numbers in the housing market.

12:44 – Why does a homeowner's financial future depend so heavily on a speedy recovery process?

Links:
https://www.cotality.com/insights
https://www.cotality.com/insights/articles/us-heatwaves-2026

On this episode of Beyond the Buildings, host Maiclaire Bolton Smith sits down with Amy Gromowski, Cotality's Head of Data Science, to walk through Cotality's new survey and make sense of what homebuyers are actually demanding from housing AI.

01:49 – There's a trust deficit in AI, but why are people increasingly skeptical?

03:38 – Why are mistakes human, but technology is expected to be infallible?

06:25 – There's value in human validation, and it’s good for business’ bottom lines.

08:21 –Will people ever trust AI more than human real estate professionals?

09:23 – Why is Gen Z actually the biggest skeptic of AI in real estate?

11:57 – Transparency is table stakes for encouraging buy in for AI technologies.

13:40 – What does good AI transparency look like anyway?

19:42 – The future of innovation belongs to those who use automation to elevate, rather than replace, human connection

Links:
https://www.cotality.com/insights/analysis/trust-but-verify-ai
https://www.cotality.com/insights/articles/small-investors-big-squeeze

Housing is powered by data, but it’s lived by people. Behind every policy, claim, and property record is a family relying on you when the unexpected happens. In the past, delivering that support often meant navigating slow, manual workflows to find the right information. Today, artificial intelligence is changing the narrative. AI isn’t just a technical upgrade for underwriting or claims adjusters — it’s how people get critical answers in minutes instead of months. That way, teams can focus on the human side of the job: helping policyholders recover and rebuild.

In this episode:

2:33 – How insurance — a traditionally in-person industry — is accelerating technology adoption.

4:03 -- Explore the rapid evolution of generative AI in property underwriting and pricing.

6:17 -- Take a closer look at how Cotality has integrated AI into our ecosystem.

13:27 – What will it take to effectively integrate AI into the insurance industry at scale?

Links:
Cotality.com/insights

Homeowners are bypassing sales to rent out their properties, effectively becoming accidental landlords. Metros like Dallas, Austin, and Miami are experiencing softened rents due to a massive influx of new multifamily housing supply. Rising non-mortgage costs are making it increasingly difficult for landlords to remain profitable as rent growth flattens.  

Links:
https://www.cotality.com/insights/articles/non-qualified-mortgages-increasing
https://www.cotality.com/insights/

In this episode of Beyond the Buildings, we dive into "The Chicago Anomaly," where we explore a surprising shift in hail risk. Host Maiclaire Bolton Smith welcomes back Jon Schneyer, Director of Research and Content at Cotality, to discuss how Chicago has overtaken Dallas-Fort Worth as the metro area with the highest potential for hail damages. Together, they unpack the factors driving this change, including property values, exposure, and vulnerability, as well as the implications for homeowners and insurers alike. They also touch on the often-overlooked "invisible risks" that can arise from hail damage and the importance of proactive mitigation strategies. Tune in for a compelling conversation that sheds light on the evolving landscape of property risk in the U.S.