Zillow has decided to discontinue its climate risk ratings on property listings, which previously highlighted the potential impact of severe weather conditions on homes, according to a report by The New York Times. Launched last year, this feature relied on data from First Street, a risk-modeling firm, to identify homes susceptible to floods, wildfires, high winds, extreme temperatures, and air pollution, amid increasing climate-related threats.
Earlier this month, the listing service made this change following concerns raised by the California Regional Multiple Listing Service (CRMLS) about the reliability of First Street’s risk assessments. Art Carter, the CEO of CRMLS, expressed to The NYT that predicting the likelihood of a home flooding in the near future could heavily influence its market appeal.
Instead of direct listings, Zillow now directs users to First Street’s website, where they can independently search for climate risk scores associated with particular properties. According to First Street’s data, there are significantly more properties at risk of flooding than government figures suggest.
