Zillow listings will now highlight climate risks, insurance information

Sales listings on Zillow will now feature detailed climate risk information for five key categories — flood, fire, wind, heat and air quality — along with insurance recommendations, according to the online real estate company.

Climate risk data, powered by climate risk financial modeler First Street, will be available on US for sale property listings directly on listing pages, complete with risk scores, interactive maps and insurance requirements.

More than 80% of buyers consider climate risks when buying a home, according to the online real estate company.

“Climate risks are now a critical factor in home buying decisions,” said Skylar Olsen, chief economist at Zillow. “Healthy markets are those where buyers and sellers have access to all the data relevant to their decisions. As concerns about floods, extreme temperatures and wildfires grow – and what that could mean for future insurance costs – this tool also helps agents inform their clients in discussions about climate risk, insurance and affordability in the long term.

Climate risk information will be available on the Zillow iOS app and Zillow website by the end of the year, with Android availability expected early next year.

When using the search map view, home shoppers can explore climate risk data through an interactive map that highlights the five key risk categories. Each risk is color coded and has its own color scale. Labels provide more context to climate data and link to First Street property-specific climate risk reports for complete information.

The information not only shows how these risks could affect the home now and in the future, but also provides information on wind, fire and flood insurance requirements.

Nationally, more new listings came with major climate risk compared to homes listed for sale five years ago, according to an analysis in August. This trend is true for all five climate risk categories analyzed by Zillow. Of all new listings in August, 16.7 percent were at major fire risk, while 12.8 percent were at major flood risk.

First Street’s analysis of Hurricane Debby’s impact found that 78 percent of properties flooded by that hurricane were outside of FEMA flood zones and, as a result, located where flood insurance is not required. With this new option, 85% of these properties would have received an insurance recommendation on Zillow, highlighting how climate risk data can guide users in assessing their insurance needs and making informed decisions about their future homes.

“At First Street we are on a mission to connect climate change to financial risk,” said Matthew Eby, founder and CEO of First Street. “Partnering with Zillow helps us accomplish this mission by providing millions of regular users on Zillow’s platforms with the same property-specific climate risk data used by leading banks, agencies and investors.”