Redfin To Continue Showing Climate Data on Listings Despite Zillow Rollback

The American real estate portal Redfin has opted to keep controversial climate risk data on its listings, even though its rival-cum-partner Zillow took the opposite decision earlier this week.

Redfin will continue to display climate risk reports provided by First Street despite questions about the validity and accuracy of the company's flood risk models.

Zillow faced pushback from a "suspicious" MLS services provider, agents, and consumers before quietly removing embedded data from its listings and linking to the data externally.

Commenting on LinkedIn, Darryl Fairweather, Chief Economist at Redfin, said the company is committed to providing the best available climate risk data despite its imperfections:

"There is a divide forming in the real estate world regarding data transparency. Recently, Zillow removed climate risk data following pressure from agents concerned about impact on home values. At Redfin, we took a different path. We decided to keep displaying climate risk data. Why? Because homebuyers find climate risk scores valuable when making one of the most important financial decisions of their lives.

"Is the current data perfect? No. We don't know exactly how fast climate change will progress or how local governments will adapt. But the First Street methodology is peer reviewed and validated by experts. We are committed to providing the best available climate risk data so buyers can make informed decisions when choosing a home."

Independent bodies such as banks, insurers, engineering firms, and federal agencies all validate the data provided by First Street. However, agents say unattractive data damaged sales, while homeowners questioned the consistency of the reports.

Clair Carroll, spokesperson for Zillow, said the company "remains committed to providing consumers with information that helps them make informed decisions."