The market splits between the Gulf Coast, Biloxi, Gulfport, Bay St. Louis, and Ocean Springs, running on casino, beach, and event traffic, and the interior: Oxford on the Ole Miss calendar, Starkville, Natchez’s historic river trade, and the Delta. Price points are modest and the barriers to entry are among the lowest in the country.
Katrina’s coastlineThe coast carries the full hurricane package: named-storm wind, and the storm-surge flooding that Katrina drove miles inland in 2005. Flood is excluded from every standard policy, wind deductibles run as percentages, and coastal capacity is thin enough that many owners end up in the state wind pool. Inland, spring tornado and hail activity drives the loss picture.
Mississippi claims most often fail exactly where Katrina taught them to: surge damage claimed as wind, denied as flood, with no flood policy behind it. On the coast, confirm flood coverage and your named-storm deductible in dollars; inland, confirm roof condition terms before storm season.
Mississippi has no statewide STR registration, and most of the interior remains lightly regulated. The coast is where the rules live: Gulfport and Biloxi run registration and zoning regimes for rentals, Ocean Springs and Bay St. Louis have their own permit rules, and Oxford requires permits with occupancy limits tuned to game weekends. State sales tax of 7 percent plus local tourism taxes apply. Confirm the coastal city’s registration and the wind-pool question before you buy.