Property catastrophe reinsurance prices at the June 1 renewals continued to moderate, according to a Howden Re update.

While appetite has improved, reinsurers have maintained underwriting discipline, it says.

The renewal “reflects a market transitioning from disruption to disciplined recalibration. While rate moderation continued, underwriting rigour persisted, especially in structurally challenged layers.”

Howden Re says top layers had the most competitive pricing, with some above-average rate reductions due to surplus capacity from insurance-linked securities.

In contrast with last year, an active ILS sector has offset reduced allocations from some traditional carriers, the update says.

“Capital inflows have rebounded, with newly formed reinsurers and syndicates deploying meaningful capacity into mid-year placements.

“As such, expanding supply continues to outpace rising demand, underpinned by improved reinsurer retained earnings and sustained catastrophe bond activity, including the issuance of new and upsized transactions at the upper layers of reinsurance programs.”

The update says reinsurer support extended to property per-risk excess of loss placements, alongside a resurgence in aggregate or second and third event covers.

“In addition to traditional occurrence protection, cedents are evaluating, and increasingly attracting, capacity for sideways and aggregate structures, as reinsurers respond to heightened cedent demand for coverage that addresses the frequency of catastrophe events.”