Beyond the Flood: The Pricing of Media Silence in Housing Markets

We examine how housing markets respond to local shocks when public information is asymmetrically distributed. Using major flooding events in Florida, we compare transactions in affected counties with and without local disaster-related media coverage. We find that properties in affected locations without coverage sell at significantly lower prices than comparable properties in covered areas, with media silence adding roughly 1% point to the post-flood discount. This additional discount is concentrated among buyers with in-state mailing addresses and institutional buyers, consistent with greater access to local or alternative information channels, while out-of-state buyers show no systematic price adjustment in media-silent areas. The pricing effect appears stronger in higher-income neighborhoods, a pattern we interpret as suggestive that information frictions persist even in financially resilient markets. Taken together, the results are consistent with media silence shaping post-disaster valuations and with stronger relative advantages for buyers who have access to local or alternative information channels.