Redfin: Interest in Climate Data Spikes After Disasters, but Doesn’t Hold

(Image courtesy of Hurricane Harvey, IrinaK/shutterstock)

Redfin, Seattle, found that prospective home buyers are particularly interested in climate-risk data in the aftermath of a major natural disaster. But, that interest quickly fades.

For example, Redfin reported, in the 90 days leading up to the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, users on its website clicked onto the climate-risk data section of California home listings 4.2% of the time.

On Jan. 8, the day after the fires started, 5.7% clicked, and on Jan. 12, 7.8% clicked on the section.

But, by the end of March, the rate fell back to roughly 4.2%.

Similarly, homebuyer interest in climate-risk data surged in Florida during the 2024 hurricane season. In the 90 days leading up to Hurricane Helene, site users clicked into the climate-risk section of Florida home listings 8% of the time. Three days after the storm made landfall in the Big Bend region, the clickthrough rate increased to 9.4%. And, it peaked at 16.3% on Oct. 7, the same day a flood watch was issued for the southern portion of the state ahead of Hurricane Milton.

“Humans often have short memories when it comes to natural disasters,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “A major fire or storm can jolt homebuyers into paying attention to climate risk because the event feels fresh and likely to happen again, but this urgency is fleeting. That’s why local leaders have a small but crucial window after a disaster to educate people on disaster preparedness and resilience. Homeowners should think about natural disasters as an ongoing risk and have an action plan in case catastrophe strikes.”

The national clickthrough rate also increases in response to various disasters, but not at the same clip.

Redfin users clicked on the climate-risk section of home listings 3.3% of the time in the week leading up to Hurricane Helene, but began rising and peaked at 4.1% the week Hurricane Milton made landfall. Then, it fell back to normal levels a few weeks later.

“While the increases in the national clickthrough rate are small, they are meaningful,” said Redfin Senior Economist Yingqi Xu. “It’s clear that the spike in Florida’s clickthrough rate during hurricane season and the spike in California’s clickthrough rate during the Los Angeles fires drove increases in the national clickthrough rate. The national uptick is more muted because it includes the behavior of house hunters in other states who weren’t affected by disasters. This indicates that natural disasters primarily impact the behavior of people searching for homes near the disaster zone—not those searching in other areas.”

Overall, users clicked into the climate-risk section of home listings for Mississippi 9.6% of the time, followed by Louisiana (9.2%), Vermont (8.9%), West Virginia (8.3%) and Florida (7.2%).

The lowest clickthroughs were in Washington, D.C. (2.4%), Nevada (3.2%), Nebraska (3.3%), Minnesota (3.4%) and Arizona (3.4%).