Zillow Drops Climate Change Information From Listings;

Zillow has dropped climate change information from its
real estate listings. Reportedly at least in part due to
resistance from the real estate industry

More than a year ago, Zillow, the big online real estate marketplace, began providing climate change risks in their listings.

They were responding to a willing audience, which for the most part really wanted that information to judge the risks of buying a home in a particular area. Especially now that climate change is upping the risk of disasters. 

A 2023 survey conducted by Zillow indicated 80% of buyers now consider climate risks when shopping for a home. 

But, as always, the moneyed class getting more money is far, far more important than those lowly home buyers. The climate change info is no longer on Zillow listings. 

According to realestatenews.com:

"Home search leader Zillow has changed the way that it shares climate risk information -directing visitors to the website of data partner First Street rather than surfacing it on Zillow home details page.

'This update ensures consumers continue to have access to important information to help them consider factors such as insurance, repair costs and long-term homeownership planning, and reflects our long-standing commitment to empowering consumers with transparent information,' a Zillow spokesperson shared with Real Estate News over email when asked about the move."

Well, at least you can get the information.You have to really dig for it, but I suppose it's there. 

The real estate industry appears to have helped kill Zillow's climate information sharing. As The Guardian explains it:

"....Zillow has deleted this climate index in the wake of complaints from real estate agents and some homeowners that the rankings appeared arbitrary, could not be challenged and harmed house sales. The complaints included those from the California Regional Multiple Listing Service, which oversees a database of property that Zillow relies upon."

It seems like the climate change information on Zillow fell victim in part to profit margins. People who want to sell homes, the real estate industry and insurers. There's a lack of affordable housing. There's been climate-driven disasters that have destroyed thousands of homes. 

"All of that adds pressure to close sales however possible....Climate risk data didn't suddenly become inconvenient. It became harder to ignore in a stressed market," said Matthew Ely, founder an chief executive of First Street, as Mother Jones reports.

First Street officials,  the Zillow data partner that compiled the climate risk information, said removing the information from Zillow website will leave many buyers"flying blind" at a time when the effects of extreme weather are messing with the real estate market in the U.S, Eby said. 

"The risk doesn't top away; it just moves from a pre-purchase decision into post-purchase liability....Families discover after a flood that they should have purchased flood insurance, or discover after the sale that wildfire insurance is unaffordable or unavailable in their area."

Of course the First Street climate risk data that was until recently on Zillow probably had some margin of error. The science of tagging individual properties with exact levels of climate risk might not be completely there yet. 

If these assessments are wrong, they could perversely make people doubt climate change, as the Mother Jones article notes. 

Meanwhile, other real estate sites are still showing climate data in their home listings. An example is Redfin, which said in a statement that they "will continue to provide the best-possible estimates of the risks of fires, floods and storms."