Most reinsurance programs have renewed at flat to slightly lower prices in the January 1 renewal season, as reinsurance capital rose to record levels, reinsurance brokers have reported.

The exceptions were for loss-affected lines and regions.

Willis Re reports international rates for property catastrophe business were flat to 5% down, while US rates were flat to 5% down for loss-free accounts and up 10% for loss-impaired accounts. It says Superstorm Sandy prevented the market from falling further overall.

“Any upwards pressure on property catastrophe pricing generally came from programs impacted by Superstorm Sandy in the US and other smaller, local events,” broker Guy Carpenter said. “Programs not loss impacted were overall flat to down.”

Guy Carpenter says reinsurance capital rose to record levels during the first nine months of last year – exceeding $US190 billion ($182 billion) at the end of the third quarter – although Sandy caused capital levels to stagnate in the fourth quarter and pushed global insured losses for the year to more than $US50 billion ($48 billion), less than half the $US120 billion ($115 billion) sustained in 2011.

Ratings agency AM Best says the outlook for the global reinsurance sector is stable.

Although Superstorm Sandy significantly increased losses for last year, “reinsurers are still well positioned to put forward an acceptable level of underwriting and overall profit for the full year”.

Beyond property catastrophe covers, Guy Carpenter describes price movements as “mixed”, with marine and energy lines reporting “noticeable rate increases”, while many other lines experienced reductions.

Willis Re says the marine market was particularly hard last year, with the Costa Concordia loss and Superstorm Sandy, which “is widely expected to be the largest ever marine loss”, resulting in reinsurance rises of at least 15%, even for loss-free accounts.