Thanks to a new partnership between Zillow (an online real estate listing platform) and First Street Foundation (the standard in connecting climate change to financial risk), for-sale home listings will now feature detailed climate risk information for five key categories — flood, wildfire, wind, heat and air quality — along with data-driven insurance recommendations.
Climate risks are a critical factor in home-buying decisions, according to Skylar Olsen, chief economist at Zillow. In fact, more than 80% of buyers now consider climate risk when purchasing a home.
Zillow listings will include detailed historical insights on when or if a property has experienced past climate events, such as flooding, wildfire, hurricane, or tornado. Tailored insurance recommendations will offer homebuyers and insurance agents the right information to ensure a home's long-term protection while remaining affordable.
For Example.....
First Street conducted an in-depth analysis of 2024's Hurricane Debby, a slow-moving and erratic tropical storm that caused widespread severe flooding across the Southeastern United States and portions of Atlantic Canada. The study found that 78% of properties flooded by Debby were outside FEMA flood zones, meaning they weren't located where flood insurance was mandatory.
In the new Zillow format, 85% of these properties would have received an insurance recommendation, highlighting how using climate data can help assess insurance needs and potential costs associated with having to relocate if another storm hits, how future insurance costs could escalate, etc.
The Methodology
First Street's models are developed by leading scientists and vetted in a peer-review process to ensure the Zillow insights are credible and actionable. Scientists analyze past events and extrude data to help determine risk and costs. They also calculate climate risk using physics-based deterministic models that simulate a building's damage and downtime from various events, including flooding, wildfires, hurricane winds, air pollution, and extreme heat.
Many industries, such as banking, investment advisory, government, real estate, and insurance, already use this data to calculate risk. Homeowners, however, have been left in the dark. As The New York Times wrote, "For too long, we have let people live in communities, and even attracted them to join a community, while keeping them in a state of ignorance about the risk that they're under."
Now, Zillow and First Street are giving homeowners a tool to help them make better-informed home-buying decisions.
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Sources: First Street, Wikipedia, Zillow, NYT: "Here is the first-ever map showing wildfire risk to American Homes"
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