Why did Zillow remove climate data from its home listings? 

Home search leader Zillow has changed the way that it shares climate risk information — directing visitors to the website of data partner First Street rather than surfacing it on Zillow home detail pages.

"This update ensures consumers continue to have access to important information to help them consider factors such as insurance, repair costs and long-term homeownership planning, and reflects our long-standing commitment to empowering consumers with transparent information," a Zillow spokesperson told Real Estate News over email when asked about the move.

What's less clear is the role one of the nation's largest MLSs played in the change.

First reported by The New York Times in late November, Zillow's removal of climate risk data from its listings comes as industry stakeholders vigorously debate over the ownership of listing data — and as home insurance prices continue to skyrocket.

Why Zillow made the change — for all its listings

The New York Times story highlighted complaints from real estate agents along with the California Regional Multiple Listing Service (CRMLS) and its CEO Art Carter about perceived discrepancies and inconsistencies in the climate risk data, and implied that Zillow's change was done under pressure from CRMLS.

In a statement shared with Real Estate News, a Zillow spokesperson said the change was made to comply with different MLS requirements but did not highlight CRMLS specifically. The removal of climate risk data has been applied to all listings on Zillow's site, not just homes in California or those within CRMLS' jurisdiction. 

"Zillow remains committed to providing consumers with information that helps them make informed real estate decisions. We updated our climate risk product experience to adhere to varying MLS requirements and maintain a consistent experience for all consumers," the spokesperson said.

However, other leading portals are still showing climate data in home listings. "You can still find property level climate risk scores on Redfin," Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather wrote in a social media post that linked to The New York Times story. 

Fairweather later said that Redfin "will continue to provide the best-possible estimates of the risks of fires, floods, and storms" in a statement shared with Real Estate News on Dec. 3.

"Homebuyers want to know, because losing a home in a catastrophe is heartbreaking, and insuring against these risks is getting more and more expensive," Fairweather said. "Every home is different and no model is perfect, so if sellers believe the information is inaccurate for their listing they can ask Redfin to remove it."

CRMLS's role and response

"There was no change in the rules," a CRMLS spokesperson said over email when asked if there was an update to MLS standards and practices that would have led to Zillow's move.  

Carter elaborated on the situation via email, noting that CRMLS was specifically concerned "about the use of predictive data for flood risk, as it does not always align with observed conditions." Following a review of listings in their system, Carter said they "identified listings that were assigned a very high projected chance of flooding in the coming years, despite having no flood activity for decades."

While other portals still appear to include property-level climate risk information, Carter said "CRMLS has asked Realtor.com, Redfin, and Homes.com to also remove predictive numbers and flood layer maps from our listings," noting that such data "may contain inaccuracies." He added that CRMLS has no issue with Zillow and other sites linking to First Street data or providing flood factor scores without predictive data.

"Our goal is simply to ensure homebuyers are not being presented with information that could be misleading or unfair. We very much support the display of transparent and accurate climate data," Carter said.

The impact of skyrocketing insurance rates

As organized real estate and home search sites debate the accuracy of climate data and the merits of displaying it on property listings, one issue that isn't being disputed is the rising cost of home insurance. Zillow's move to point consumers off the site to explore climate risks comes at a time when more homeowners are seeing major increases in their insurance premiums and others are actually seeing the steep costs of insurance eat into their home value. 

While speaking at a November event for ResiClub, Cotality Chief Data and Analytics Officer John Rogers said the average annual change in homeowners insurance premiums was 14% for both 2023 and 2024 and is expected to be 10% in 2025. Rogers also forecasted an 8% rise in premiums for 2026 and in 2027. 

But California home owners and buyers are being hit particularly hard. According to the California Association of Realtors' latest State of the Market annual report and survey, over a quarter of member agents signaled that their buyers were having difficulty obtaining insurance. And the number of buyers losing out on a home because of issues with home insurance has been increasing. Last year, over 14% of member agents reported that at least one sale fell through because buyers could not secure homeowners insurance while the number rose to over 16% in 2025.

This story has been updated to include a response from CRMLS CEO Art Carter and a statement from Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather.