By J. Arky on November 17, 2024
It’s undeniable that climate change is shaping our lives more now than ever. Between wildfires, flooding, and hurricanes, no one place on earth isn’t impacted by the devastating effects of climate change. This can be a hard pill to swallow when you are looking to buy a home. After all, will you be putting yourself at risk by purchasing property in the path of a destructive force of nature?
Now, more than 4 out of 5 prospective homebuyers consider climate risks when they shop, according to a recent Zillow survey. This prompted the realty site to launch a new feature laying out how properties on the market might be in the path of extreme climate-related damage.
As reported by CNN, Zillow, in partnership with the climate modeling company First Street, is now sharing climate data in five categories: flood, wildfire, wind, heat and air quality. The feature highlights a home’s current risks and projects its climate risks 15 and 30 years into the future — aligning with the typical durations of fixed-rate mortgages.
GOBankingRates asked a few real estate experts about what they think of Zillow’s new climate-risk assessment feature and if it’s possible to use it to save potential homebuyers money.
Here’s what they thought.
A Smart Move for Transparency
“It’s going to be used heavily, so it was also a smart move from Zillow to create it,” said Seamus Nally, CEO of TurboTenant. “With all of the extreme weather we’ve seen these past few years, climate has absolutely become a big consideration for people moving and buying homes, and for more than one reason. People of course want to know what risks they are signing up for. They want to know if they and their family will be safe, and if it’s worth buying a home in an area that may end up destroying that home.”
Beyond that, it also gives people a decent look into what homeowners insurance costs might look like, in Nally’s professional opinion.
“In areas that have recently experienced extreme weather disasters or that are at higher risks for extreme weather disasters in the coming years, homeowners insurance prices tend to be higher,” added Nally. “In many cases, a lot higher. So, this feature from Zillow can give people a more well-rounded look at how expensive a house may be beyond its listing price.”
Informed Buyers Make Better Decisions
Zillow providing climate risk data to homebuyers is a positive step, according to Max Dugan-Knight, a climate data scientist at Deep Sky, who urged for more climate risk analysis and real estate is a critical piece of that puzzle.
“It’s also very encouraging that people want this data,” said Dugan-Knight. “Homebuyers who are informed about all risks, including rising home costs associated with homes in climate-prone areas, help buyers go in with eyes wide open. Ultimately, it’ll help them financially prepare for any impacts to the home or it’ll dissuade them from purchasing a particular home — potentially saving them large amounts of money or a total investment loss.”
Double-Check the Data
However, you might want to do some due diligence and double-check the accuracy that Zillow reports, in the opinion of Lindsey Harn, a residential real estate agent.
“While it can be helpful, each community is so special and specific these generalized hazard warnings [have been found] to be inaccurate at least here in our county,” Harn said. Noting that most buyers know Zillow is not always accurate. “I tell all of my clients to … verify with your trusted real estate professional, insurance agent, and the Natural Hazard Zone disclosure.”
Zillow is not the only site that is starting to assess climate change-related risks to homes. Other real estate companies are following suit to share this same kind of information with potential buyers.
“We applaud Zillow, its critical consumers understand environmental hazards, and it’s why we’ve featured climate risk data on Flyhomes.com since we launched our portal,” shared Chief Strategy Officer Adam Hopson at Flyhomes.
“A home is the largest purchase most of us will ever make, and the housing industry should strive to make that purchase as informed as possible,” said Hopson. “For our part, we pull data from government and research agencies like FEMA, USGS, ProPublica, and AirNow, and present it in a consumer-friendly interface similar to Zillow’s.”
The Future of Climate Risk in Real Estate
Hard to say if Zillow is leading the charge in including this data on their site, but in the future, you might be seeing this kind of climate-change related information paired with homes, pricing, and all the other information you might expect from a listing.
Article originally published by GO Banking Rates.