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Zillow is rolling out a new feature that shows the climate risks tied to properties for sale on the platform — realities that could majorly affect homebuyers’ decisions.
The Big Picture: As extreme weather dominates the headlines more each day, the home-buying mantra of “location, location, location” has never been more important.
Between the Listings: In partnership with non-profit organization First Street, Zillow’s new climate-risk tool gives buyers a breakdown of what… well… could potentially break their house.
- It details the risks homes have to wildfires, flooding, extreme temperatures, high winds, and poor air quality… and the “forecasted severity” of those risks via a color scale, per The Verge.
- It’ll let buyers know what kind of insurance plans are required for properties (and how premiums could increase) and assess what type of insurance should be required based on the risk factors.
- For example, a study by First Street found that 74% of homes flooded by this year’s Hurricane Debby were located in areas that didn’t require flood insurance… but Zillow’s tool says 85% of them would’ve been stamped with an insurance recommendation.
Closing Thoughts: You’d be shocked at how many properties are threatened by climate-related disasters. Zillow says that 16.7% of new listings in August had a “major risk” of being affected by wildfire, and 12.8% had the same risk of flooding. That’s some serious consideration for those looking to make what is likely the biggest purchase of their lives. Expect the properties in relative climate-safe zones to soon become the hottest — but not fire hot — commodity.
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