15 housing markets with the highest risk of wildfire damage

As global warming contributes to the spread of wildfires, those fires lead to the destruction of homes, mortgage delinquencies and defects.

Loan application defects increased due to the wildfires of 2018 that ravaged California. Additionally, reconstruction costs have the potential to reach $8.5 trillion from the over 30.7 million homes that are at risk across the country, according to CoreLogic's 2019 Wildfire Risk Report.

Wildfires burned 8.8 million acres of land in 2018 alone — the sixth-highest total on record since the mid-1900s. In addition, the annual average of acres burned between 1970 and 1999 has more than doubled between the turn of the century and the present day. These trends are in direct correlation with climate change's impact. Younger generations take that into account when securing a loan and buying a house.

While all states face some risk of wildfire, that risk is highest for the 13 most westerly states, which are the most often affected. California led in total acreage burned last year with over 1.8 million, followed by Nevada's 1 million and Oregon's 897,262.

From Texas to California, these are the 15 most-at-risk metro areas with the highest wildfire reconstruction costs.

CoreLogic evaluated the combined number of single-family and multifamily residences at risk of wildfire damage by state, reconstruction cost, and associated losses from recent wildfires. It then ranked metro areas based on the combined values of high and extreme-risk residences.

High- and extreme-risk reconstruction cost value: $6.27 billion
Total high- and extreme-risk residences: 36,004