Xactware’s 2012 Property Report Reveals Year-End Impact of Superstorm Sandy

February 6, 2013 / 2 min read

Report: Sandy had strong influence on claim estimate and building cost trends in northeast U.S.

OREM, Utah, February 6, 2013 — A new report from Xactware reveals that Superstorm Sandy had a strong impact on claim estimate and building cost trends throughout the northeast United States last year.

Xactware’s 2012 Property Report for the United States, shows that New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania sustained the greatest amount of storm damage as measured by the number and value of Sandy-related claim estimates reported to Xactware by the end of 2012. The year-end average value of a repair estimate for damage caused by the storm was $7,255. The report based its findings on more than 390,000 Sandy-related estimates processed between October 29 and December 31 by Xactware’s claims assignment and analytical network, XactAnalysis®.

Xactware’s property report also reveals that demand surge from the storm caused disposal and debris removal costs to soar and that building materials and labor prices had already increased by an average of about 2 percent in affected states in just the last two months of 2012.

“Sandy was a huge storm that caused widespread damage and could eventually cause demand surge inflation on par with storms like Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma, and Ike,” said Mike Fulton, Xactware’s vice president of Pricing Data Services. “Common repair costs in affected areas had already risen by the end of 2012, and much of the repair work was just getting under way.”

In addition to an in-depth overview of Superstorm Sandy’s effect, the property report includes findings on these key areas:

The total number and value of property estimates processed by Xactware in 2012 for the United States
The average value of property estimates by month and type of loss, such as wind, water, and fire
The total number and value of personal property claims by category, including jewelry, electronics, or clothing
Reconstruction cost trends for each state and the District of Columbia

About Xactware’s 2012 Property Report for the United States
Xactware’s in-house team of pricing experts researched, analyzed, and compiled information contained in the 2012 property report. This team, which has more than 590 years of combined construction and restoration experience, conducted more than 163,000 surveys with material and equipment suppliers as well as more than 100,000 surveys with repair contractors and service providers during 2012. Xactware also analyzed more than 99 million data points from repair and rebuild estimates to tabulate information in the 2012 property report.

Visit the Xactware Online Store to order a copy of the 2012 Property Report for the United States.

About Xactware
Xactware Solutions (Xactware) is a Verisk Analytics (Nasdaq:VRSK) company that specializes in the property insurance, remodeling, and restoration industries. Xactware’s technology tools include software estimating programs for PCs and tablet PCs, as well as powerful online systems for replacement cost calculations, estimate tracking, and data trending in real time. For more information about Xactware’s products and services, contact Xactware at 1-800-424-9228 or http://www.xactware.com.

Release: Immediate

Contact:

Media
Jens Dana
801-932-8653
jadana@xactware.com