A California Climate Expert Is Working to Restore Climate Risk Scores Deleted by Zillow

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The real estate website scrubbed the data under pressure from California’s real estate brokers and agents who were concerned about its impact on home prices. Neil Matouka thinks prospective buyers have a right to know.

By Claire Barber
January 20, 2026

Even as exposure to floods, fire and extreme heat increase in the face of climate change, a popular tool for evaluating risk has disappeared from the nation’s leading real estate website.

Zillow removed the feature displaying climate risk data to home buyers in November after the California Regional Multiple Listing Service, which provides a database of real estate listings to real estate agents and brokers in the state, questioned the accuracy of the flood risk models on the site.

Now, a climate policy expert in California is working to put data back in buyers’ hands.

Neil Matouka, who previously managed the development and launch of California’s Fifth Climate Change Assessment, is developing a proof of concept plugin that provides climate data to Californians in place of what Zillow has removed. When a user views a California Zillow listing, the plugin automatically displays data on wildfire and flood risk, sea level rise and extreme heat exposure.
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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20012026/climate-expert-works-to-restore-zillow-climate-risk-scores/

[riversedge]

1. There are good people in the U.S.