Zillow’s new climate risk insights may spur the next big shift in the housing market

With hurricanes dominating the headlines in recent weeks, and for good reason, homeowners and potential buyers are likely thinking more carefully about the threats that extreme weather and climate change pose to their homes.

Consider this: Hurricane Helene, which wrought widespread damage along the Gulf Coast and parts of Appalachia in early October, is estimated to have caused as much as $47.5 billion in damage. Hurricane Milton, which hit Florida this week, could cause as much as $180 billion in damage, per early estimates.

Given our changing world, Zillow is adding climate risk scores for every for-sale listing on its platform.

First Street, a climate risk financial modeling company, provides the company’s climate risk data, which will help provide insight into extreme climate risks posed by floods, wildfires, wind, heat, and air quality. According to a company press release, listings will also include maps and insurance requirements.

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

Research shows that homebuyers can and will also act on climate risk data. A Redfin survey conducted in October 2022 found that nearly two-thirds of potential homebuyers were “reluctant to relocate to a place at risk of natural disasters, extreme temperatures, and/or rising sea levels.” Further, 40% of buyers and sellers pointed at climate risks as a role in a decision to move.

Further, another survey published in September 2023 by Zillow found that 83% of home shoppers considered climate risks when looking at homes. Buyers in the Northeast and West were most likely to consider at least one climate risk, and younger buyers—specifically, members of the millennial and Gen Z generations—were “most likely to consider a climate risk when determining where to shop for a home.”