Commute time? Check. Schools? Check. Smog? Yes, Now homebuyers can see Pollution data.
Buying a home? Most people think about matters such as commuting times, noise, local school quality, flood zones and much more.
But the effects of climate change and pollution? Mostly likely not.
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With rapid global warming and its effects, though, it’s become something homebuyers have begun to think about. For instance, the number of poor air quality days in the Western U.S. surged by as much as 477% between 2000 and 2021, in large part due to wildfire smoke, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
And that has led home brokerage service Redfin RDFN 0.00%↑ to begin to include air quality risk data in its listings along with already-present information about a property’s flood, fire, heat, and wind risks. The move came after a recent Redfin-commissioned survey found that 9% of recent U.S. home sellers cited concern about the impact of climate change as a reason for their move.
“Redfin wants to ensure that every single person searching for a home has the information they need to understand climate risks,” said Senior Vice President of Product and Design Ariel Dos Santos in a press release. “Air pollution is an important consideration as poor air quality becomes more frequent due to climate threats such as wildfire smoke.”
And that’s something of interest also on the East Coast, which last year experienced extended periods of wildfire smoke drifting down from Canada, with skies in the region turning orange and the smell of fumes in the air. On one listing in New York City, for example, it reveals that “Over the next 30 years, this area will experience a 40% increase in the number of poor air quality days, i.e. where the Air Quality Index exceeds 100.”
Users of the company’s website and app can find the information in a “climate” tab above the listings. To source the data, Redfin turned to First Street, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based climate risk data firm that analyzes the number of poor air quality days expected in the current year and three decades into the future. It assigns each home one of six ratings, ranging from minimal to extreme.
Decisions, decisions.
