According to The New York Times, the prominent real estate platform Zillow has ceased publishing detailed climate risk ratings on its property listings—an analytical feature that had previously informed prospective buyers of the probability that any given home might be affected by extreme weather-related events. This move effectively removes from Zillow’s listings a layer of environmental transparency that, until recently, allowed consumers to evaluate the potential vulnerability of residential properties to natural hazards such as flooding, wildfires, damaging winds, excessive heat, and deteriorating air quality.
The discontinued feature, which was launched by Zillow only last year, drew upon predictive models developed by the climate analytics firm First Street Foundation. Using sophisticated data modeling, First Street’s system sought to estimate the long-term exposure of millions of U.S. homes to intensifying climate conditions, providing an accessible means for buyers and real estate professionals to grasp the environmental vulnerabilities associated with different regions. Its forecasts, based on variables like geography, historical climate patterns, and evolving environmental trends, highlighted the growing relevance of climate resilience as an integral component of property valuation in an era of escalating climate volatility.
However, earlier this month, Zillow quietly removed these climate risk indicators from its listing interface after receiving formal complaints from the California Regional Multiple Listing Service (CRMLS). The organization expressed serious reservations about the precision and reliability of the First Street Foundation’s risk models. CRMLS contended that the representation of risk probabilities—such as indicating the specific chance that a particular home might experience flooding within a year or over a five-year period—could dramatically influence the perceived desirability and marketability of a property. Art Carter, the chief executive officer of CRMLS, told The New York Times that such projections can have a profound effect on both buyer sentiment and property value perceptions, underscoring the sensitivity of mixing probabilistic forecasts with consumer-facing home listings.
Following the policy change, direct climate risk scores are no longer displayed within Zillow’s own real estate listings. Instead, users seeking such information are now redirected via a link to the First Street Foundation’s official website, where they can independently search for, and review, climate vulnerability assessments for specific properties. This alteration effectively transfers the responsibility for accessing and interpreting environmental risk data from Zillow’s platform to the user, preserving access to the information while distancing the real estate company from potential disputes over model accuracy.
Despite the removal of the feature from Zillow’s user interface, First Street Foundation’s broader findings remain striking. The organization’s data suggest that the number of properties nationwide exposed to significant flood danger is substantially higher than federal government estimates, indicating that climate-driven risk may be more pervasive across American housing markets than many buyers—or institutions—currently anticipate. The tension surrounding Zillow’s decision therefore illustrates a deepening debate within the real estate industry over how best to balance data transparency, scientific uncertainty, and the commercial implications of revealing environmental risk information to the public.
Sourse: https://www.theverge.com/news/834715/zillow-removes-flood-fire-risk-scores-home-listings
