HOUSING

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Federal Research Builds America

Home buyers, builders, and insurers need precise flood and storm risk data to make informed decisions during a persistent housing shortage.

American housing and real estate drives local economies and builds strong communities – but only if homeowners, developers, and insurers have the tools and information they need to make informed decisions. Scientific research helps to make buildings stronger, homes sturdier, and towns and cities across America more resilient to property damage from storms, hurricanes, hail, wind, floods, and tornadoes resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in savings. 

Homeowners and real estate professionals get the forecast and weather data they need from a variety of sources, but powering them all are federal research institutions that provide sophisticated monitoring networks, predictive models, and real-time data systems. This essential information is the foundation of the U.S. housing market that keeps communities ahead of the curve and protected. 

The Research and Data that Protect American Homes

NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) system

Turns satellite-measurable information into real-time images, feeds up-to-the-minute data to forecasters working to protect lives, health, and property.  

NSF NCAR, NASA, and NOAA

Incorporate real-time environmental observations into complex weather and climate models run using our nation’s supercomputers to provide increasingly detailed, farther-out forecasts of future weather. This helps emergency managers, industry planners, and insurers prepare for the range of conditions in which day-to-day development and maintenance of real estate is conducted. 

NOAA’s Global System Laboratory (GSL)

Provides high-resolution, short-term forecasts around key locations like urban centers, giving construction and supply chain managers more time to prepare for expected conditions. 

NOAA’s Fire Weather Testbed (FWT)

Feeds better information to decision makers about wildfire presence and threats, increasing people’s ability to protect property, and equips insurers and the construction supply chain to better plan for recovering or implementing adaptive solutions.  

USGCRP’s National Climate Assessment and the NOAA/CDC NIHHIS

Provide regionally detailed information about weather and climate hazards for outdoor workers. This allows all industries to develop robust plans to keep workers safe and productive particularly during extreme heat events. 

NOAA’s Office of Education

Builds the public’s understanding of weather and climate and provides educational resources relevant for developers and planners supporting this sector. 

Protecting American Investments

The total value of U.S. homes in the United States reached more than $55 trillion in June 2025, according to Zillow. Federal scientific research protects and increases these property values by helping to understand and avoid real estate developments on terrain that is at high-risk of adverse weather events, coastal erosion, and environmental hazards that can endanger property owners and result in significant financial losses.

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