Climate change risk data company ClimateCheck has partnered with the National Association of Realtors to provide property risk ratings to members through an integration with the Realtors Property Resource platform.
As of Tuesday, NAR members will be able to provide their clients with timely information about the risk of drought, fire, storm, heat and flood damage alongside other RPR data.
“Climate change can have an impact on your cost of ownership, insurance and utility costs and your quality of life,” ClimateCheck CEO Cal Inman said in a statement. “Access to this information and a risk assessment is a smart first step for current property owners and potential buyers.”
ClimateCheck generates property-specific climate-related hazard ratings from 1 to 100, with 100 representing the highest risk level. The ratings are based on potential climate risks in 2050, which represents the length of a 30-year mortgage. Realtors can request reports by accessing the ClimateCheck homepage through the RPR platform.
The platform generates reports for on and off-market properties, which can be directly emailed to Realtors and their buyers.
“Pairing with the ClimateCheck resource adds another layer of information for Realtors to identify climate risks and be able to suggest simple ways to adapt properties so they are more resilient to extreme weather hazards,” RPR Chief Operating Officer and General Manager Jeff Young said in a statement.
“Understanding each risk — heat, fire, storm, drought and flood — has become a crucial part of homeownership, and now Realtors can share this information with their clients.”
“Additionally, commercial practitioners are considering climate-related factors in their allocations, investment strategies, risk analysis and site selection,” he added.
ClimateCheck report snapshot | Credit: ClimateCheck
Over the past several years, ClimateCheck has cemented partnerships with multiple notable real estate portals, including LocalLogic, Movoto by OJO Labs, RealScout and Redfin. In his last interview with Inman, Inman said ClimateCheck’s ultimate goal is to provide climate risk data for every real estate listing on every real estate portal in the United States.
“Consumers want to know [the risks],” he said, while noting an increasing number of Americans are concerned about climate change. “They read about it every day, and they’re experiencing all these natural hazards and increased frequency of them and increased tendency.”
Other industry players are beginning to turn their attention to climate change, with the Federal Housing Finance Agency ordering Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to factor financial risks posed by climate change into their decision making. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has also doubled down on its flood risk research as rising sea levels threaten some of the United States’ largest cities.
“Millions of people in the United States live in areas prone to flooding, a threat that is only growing as climate change worsens,” HUD spokesperson Michael Burns said in a previous Inman article. “Ensuring that federal agencies, including HUD, have the right tools and policies in place to increase resilience nationwide is a key priority of the Biden-Harris administration for combating climate change and building strong, equitable communities.”
Editor’s Note: Cal Inman is the son of Brad Inman, founder of Inman Group. Brad Inman is part of the ClimateCheck team; however, Inman Group is not affiliated with ClimateCheck in any way.
