I’ve covered how insurance companies are listing flooding and climate risk for individual properties on sale, for potential buyers to consider.
This local news spot from Ashville, North Carolina highlights some Western North Carolina homeowners who think the index is well intentioned, but in their case, wrong, and hampering a sale of their home, which they claim rode out Hurricane Helene with no flooding.
The increasing power of storms, floods and wildfires have made more potential home buyers pay attention to climate risks when shopping for a home. If you’re one of those buyers, you can now see whether a property you’re eyeing is at risk for a climate-related event by checking climate risk data on every home listed for sale on Zillow.
What is climate risk data?
Climate risk data tells you whether a property you’re considering on Zillow is at risk for flood, wildfire, high winds, extreme heat and/or poor air quality. It also gives you a history of previous climate-related events, and an estimate of the likelihood that such an event could affect that home over the next 30 years.
The information can help you determine the degree of risk you could be assuming when you buy any given property for-sale, and how much those risks could add to the cost of insuring and heating/cooling a home you’re considering.
“Climate risks influence where most prospective buyers shop for a home,” says Manny Garcia, a senior population scientist at Zillow. “While all generations juggle trade-offs like budget, floor plans and commute times, younger home shoppers are more likely to face another consideration: They want to know if their home will be safe from rising waters, extreme temperatures and wildfires.”
Compared to five years ago, more homes listed for sale in the U.S. are associated with major climate risks, according to a Zillow® analysis of new listings in August 2024. The analysis was fueled by data from First Street, a trusted leader in climate risk modeling that Zillow is partnering with to offer climate risk data. The analysis found that 16.7% of new listings were at major risk of wildfire, while 12.8% came with a major risk of flooding.
Surrrpraazz Surrrpraazz, some places were spared by the last flood/fire whatever so THEY shouldn’t be rated for risk like their neighbours. And when they are the only ones left in the road because everyone else has been washed away, burned to the ground or disappeared down the latest landslide, THEIR little castles my still be entirely untouched and completely livable.
No roads, no power, no mail delivery, no ambulance service, no tradies willing to visit, but tough, rugged individualists no totally off grid, unsaleable at any price, but hey, NOT “high risk” on Zillow
FWIW, they noted that their neighbors just downhill were given low risk ratings.
I get that people might not accept increased risk in the future, but the extreme rating for them should apply to the properties just downhill, too.
And this is flood risk, not land-slip risk, where different parts of a hillside might be more or less vulnerable to being buried or slipping down-slope.
I’m researching my target area based on topography. If the property is not downstream of a large dam, is at or near a local maximum (like my current house), and that “bump” is surrounded by enough lower land, I wouldn’t consider it vulnerable to flooding even with extreme rain.
I’ve accepted the vulnerability to occasional heat waves, deep freezes, wildfire smoke, power outages and trees falling on my house, but I want nothing to do with wildfire, landslips and flooding. Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chances.