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Wildfire abatement and prevention mainly protect your home from a price discount rather than guaranteeing a specific premium, but evidence from California suggests that clearly high-risk, unimproved homes can sell around 4–5% less than otherwise similar homes, especially in Southern California. Effective mitigation can also unlock insurance availability and large premium discounts, which buyers capitalize into what they are willing to pay for a property.

How much value does it add?

• In California, homes that must disclose high wildfire risk sell for about 4.3–5% less than nearby homes without those disclosures, with the strongest effect in Southern California.
• Practically, insurance agencies tell us good wildfire mitigation (home hardening plus defensible space) helps you avoid falling into that discounted, “high-risk” bucket and keeps your price closer to full market value.
• Insurers in California now give wildfire-resilience discounts ranging from a few percent to over 50% off premiums when owners complete a full suite of home-hardening and defensible space measures, and those ongoing savings are part of what buyers are willing to pay for according to AAA.

So while you won’t typically see an appraisal line saying “+5% for mitigation,” the combination of avoiding a 4–5% wildfire-risk discount, maintaining insurability, and providing lower insurance costs often translates into several percent of the home’s value in a fire-prone Southern California market.

Ways wildfire measures increase value

1. Avoiding wildfire risk discounts at sale
   • Mandatory wildfire-risk disclosures in California have led buyers to pay about 4.3% less for homes flagged as high risk, with a stronger effect in Southern California.resources+2
   • When a property is demonstrably hardened and compliant with defensible-space rules, it is less likely to be perceived (or disclosed) as a “high-risk” outlier, helping sustain a higher sale price.
2. Making insurance obtainable and more affordable
   • California regulations require insurers to offer premium discounts to homeowners who undertake specified home-hardening and defensible space steps; some carriers provide total discounts from a few percent up to over 50% when all measures are completed or IBHS “Wildfire Prepared Home” standards are met.
   • Major insurers (for example AAA) now offer wildfire-defense or “home hardening” discounts of up to roughly 12–15% or more for fire-resistant vents, multi-pane windows, removing combustible materials, and similar upgrades.
   • Pending and recent legislation is tying guaranteed coverage availability to completion of science-based mitigation work (such as enclosed eaves and defensible space), which increases buyer confidence that they can insure the property.[sfchronicle]​
3. Reducing probability of loss (which buyers factor in)
   • CalFire analysis of large 2017–2018 fires found structures not in compliance with defensible space rules were about five times more likely to be destroyed than compliant structures.​
   • When homebuyers see credible evidence that mitigation sharply lowers the odds of catastrophic loss, they are more willing to pay for that reduced risk, especially after highly publicized SoCal fire seasons.
4. Lower ongoing ownership costs (capitalized into price)
   • Premium discounts for hardened homes and defensible space reduce annual carrying costs; in real estate economics, long-term cost savings are typically reflected in a higher present sale price.
   • Rebuilding to wildfire-resistant standards generally adds less than about 10% to construction costs, and retrofits can often be accomplished for a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars, which is modest relative to the value preserved by avoiding a major discount or total loss.
5. Marketability and buyer pool in high-risk areas
   • As wildfire disclosures and media coverage increase awareness, buyers in Southern California are more cautious about high-risk, unimproved properties and may avoid them or demand steep discounts.
   • A property that can advertise IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home status, documented defensible space compliance, and current insurance with mitigation discounts stands out in listings and appeals to a broader pool of buyers.

Examples of specific upgrades that help

Common measures that tend to support higher value, better insurability, and fewer discounts include:

• Maintaining 0–5 feet of non-combustible zone around the home (no wood mulch or flammables against the structure).
• 30–100 feet of well-maintained defensible space with thinned, limbed-up, and separated vegetation.
• Class A fire-resistant roofing, ember-resistant vents, enclosed eaves, and multi-pane or tempered glass windows.
• Non-combustible fencing sections attached to the house, screened gutters, and removal of firewood and debris near structures.