zillow Drops Climate Risk Tool After Industry Pushback, Leaving Buyers in the Dark
Meta Description: Zillow removed a feature displaying property-specific climate risks-including wildfire and flood-after complaints it harmed sales. Learn how this impacts homebuyers.
Zillow, the nation’s largest real estate listing site, has removed a feature that provided users with critical information regarding a property’s exposure to the escalating climate crisis. The decision follows sustained pressure from the real estate industry and some homeowners who argued the tool was negatively impacting sales.
Introduced in September of last year, the now-deleted feature assessed the individual risk of wildfire, flood, extreme heat, wind damage, and poor air quality for approximately one million properties. Zillow explained at the time that “climate risks are now a critical factor in home-buying decisions.” The data was provided by First street Foundation,a nonprofit research group.
“Weather are warping the real estate market in the US,” said Matthew Eby, founder and chief executive of First Street.”The risk doesn’t go away; it just moves from a pre-purchase decision into a post-purchase liability.” He warned that homeowners may discover,after a purchase,the need for costly flood insurance or the unavailability of affordable wildfire insurance. “Access to accurate risk information before a purchase isn’t just helpful; it’s essential to protecting consumers and preventing lifelong financial consequences.”
Eby believes the decision to delist First Street’s ratings is tied to the current challenges in the housing market-specifically a shortage of affordable homes and the increasing financial burden of climate-driven disasters. “All of that adds pressure to close sales however possible,” he stated. “Climate risk data didn’t suddenly become inconvenient. It became harder to ignore in a stressed market.”
The escalating effects of a warming planet,fueled by the burning of fossil fuels,are already taking a toll on homes and infrastructure across the country. Last year alone, disasters amplified by the climate crisis caused an estimated $182 billion in damages-one of the highest totals on record, according to a government database that has since been taken offline.
Consequently, home insurance is becoming increasingly scarce and expensive in many parts of the US. This trend is colliding with a simultaneous influx of people moving to vulnerable areas like Florida and the Southwest, regions increasingly threatened by hurricanes and extreme heat.
assigning climate risks to individual properties has proven contentious. Some within the real estate industry, and even some experts, question the feasibility of making such granular assessments. Concerns were raised that warnings of potential perils discouraged buyers, particularly for high-value properties. For example, a $295 million Florida mansion-the most expensive property in the country and located in a high-risk flood zone-was taken off the market after multiple price reductions.
Jesse Keenan,an expert in climate risk management at Tulane university,noted that “proprietary risk models that provide highly uncertainly assessments can have the perverse effect of undermining the public’s confidence in climate science.” He added that there is growing support for greater government involvement in standardizing property risk assessments,while acknowledging the inherent limitations of current scientific capabilities. “I do not believe that this is a sign that the brokerage industry is trying to hide climate risks,” Keenan clarified. “Brokerage firms know they cannot stop the transmission of climate risk information because climate impacts are already being felt far and wide in the sector.”
Eby vigorously defended First Street’s methodology, emphasizing that its models are based on peer-reviewed science and validated against real-world outcomes. “So when claims are made that our models are inaccurate, we ask for evidence,” he said. “To date, all the empirical validation shows our science is working as designed and providing better risk insight than the tools the industry has relied on historically.”
The removal of Zillow’s climate risk tool underscores a growing tension between transparency and market forces, leaving prospective homebuyers to navigate an increasingly uncertain future with less information at their fingertips.
