With the destruction of hurricanes Helene and Milton and the effects of climate change in the US, it's becoming more important for buyers to assess the potential environmental list as part of shopping for a new home. As such, real estate listing website Zillow has added climate risk data to its home listings.
Through the feature, buyers can see how vulnerable each property might be to extreme weather events. The assessments will be divided into five categories: air quality, flood, heat, wildfire, and wind.
Buyers can view the data in two ways. First, they can open individual listings and view the information included there. Another way is checking an interactive, color-coded map that displays the home's climate risk. It will also estimate the potential environmental threat to a home in 15 years and 30 years, per CNN. This mirrors the typical lengths of fixed mortgage loans.
Furthermore, the tool will offer buyers tailored insurance recommendations.
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Who Is Behind the Data
For the data, Zillow is partnering with First Street Foundation, a nonprofit organization assessing climate risk. The climate risk feature will give properties a score from 1 to 10 for each risk.
The feature will be rolled out on the Zillow iOS app and the website by the end of 2024. It will then be rolled out on the Zillow app for Android early next year, the company said in a press release published in September.
"Climate risks are now a critical factor in home-buying decisions," Skylar Olsen, chief economist at Zillow, said in the release. "As concerns about flooding, extreme temperatures, and wildfires grow - and what that might mean for future insurance costs."
Why Climate Risk Data Is Needed
The Zillow upgrade comes as weather disasters in the US have become more devastating. Hurricane Helene, for instance, is estimated to cost insurance companies between $6 billion and $11 billion. Uninsured losses are likely to be around $20 million to $30 million, per estimates from data analytics firm CoreLogic.
Hurricane Milton, which swept through Florida this week, caused a whopping $50 billion in damages, according to President Joe Biden.
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