When natural disasters occur it can make residents of an impacted area sit up and take notice of how safe their dwellings truly are, and if they should make changes either by refurbishing a home or by finding property that is more protective. When storm winds hit a region and reach levels that will take down trees and damage structures there will be the need for repairs after the storm moves off. Though Ophelia, a rare eastern Atlantic once hurricane and now a downgraded storm will come in with force to Ireland and then the UK, after she moves off what will remain hidden from the eye is the impact on the housing market.

Ophelia will have an expected impact on the housing market in that it will motivate some people to purchase a new property. Perhaps one that is more attractive because it was repaired and updated after damage from the storm, or a property deemed more protective should another similar storm move through in the future.

There will be another impact from the storm that won’t be as evident as it becomes a memory. The refocus of hopeful home buyers to dealing with the storm rather than moving along in the process of purchasing a home will skew the normal data for the housing market for October. There will also be the lost time from business operating hours due to power outages or other storm related detours that will keep home buyers from completing steps in purchasing a new home.

Of course, there is also the factor that bad weather will keep people indoors and away from shopping around for a new home. With the possibility of losing power and Internet service, even shopping online could be slowed or stopped for a considerable time.

Hopefully Ophelia will move through the UK with less damage than what is being forecasted, but better or worse, the storm will impact the housing market and October data will be different than it would have been had the storm veered off from hitting land.