Zillow has stopped publishing climate risk ratings for sales listings that indicate the likelihood of properties being affected by extreme weather, the new York Times reports, The feature, introduced last year by the real estate listing site, used data from risk-modeling company First Street to predict which homes are most vulnerable to flooding, wildfire, wind, extreme heat and poor air quality as climate conditions pose increased risks to properties.
The change went into effect earlier this month following complaints to the California Regional Multiple Listing Service (CRMLS) regarding the accuracy of First Street’s risk model. “Demonstrating the potential for flooding in a specific home this year or within the next five years can have a significant impact on the perceived desirability of that property,” said Art Carter, chief executive officer of CRMLS. NYT,
For sale listings on Zillow now link users to First Street’s website, where they can manually find climate risk scores for specific properties. First Street data shows millions more properties are at risk of flooding than the government estimates.
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