The real estate industry has made another gesture to climate change, with Redfin adding metrics to assess risk on its home listings.
Climate data company ClimateCheck will provide a risk ranking for Redfin listings in all locations, according to Inman. ClimateCheck data has already been added to websites RealScout and Ojo Labs, the publication reported.
Redfin listings will include a rating for fire, heat, drought and storm risks over the course of 30 years, the length of a traditional mortgage. The figures will run from 0 to 100, with zero meaning no risk. Buyers will be able to narrow risk down from the county level all the way to the zip code.
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ClimateCheck uses global models for carbon dioxide emissions, then adds local weather patterns into the equation at the local level.
A previous survey from Redfin found that 49 percent of respondents were factoring climate change into a potential move over the coming year, a likely factor in Redfin’s decision.
Climate change is expected to have an increasing impact on the real estate industry, from valuations to financing to the safety of certain locales. A recent analysis from Stanford University determined that flooding caused by climate change cost the United States about $75 billion over three decades.
Yet some refused to acknowledge the growing danger. In the Hamptons, oceanfront property remains at a premium, despite the threat of rising sea levels. Brokers in South Florida have not seen much effect on homebuying decisions either.
[Inman] — Holden Walter-Warner