Homebuyers on Redfin.com show a temporary increase in engagement with climate-risk information in home listings following major natural disasters, a recent report from Redfin indicates. However, this heightened attention quickly diminishes as the impact of the event fades.
According to an analysis by Redfin, user clicks into the climate-risk section of California home listings jumped after the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. In the 90 days prior to the fires, the average clickthrough rate was 4.2%. This rose to 5.7% on January 8, the day after the fires began, and peaked at 7.8% on January 12. By the end of March, the clickthrough rate returned to its pre-fire average. Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather noted, “Humans often have short memories when it comes to natural disasters. 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.” Fairweather emphasized a critical window after disasters for local leaders to educate on preparedness and resilience.
Similar trends were observed in Florida during the 2024 hurricane season, which included Hurricane Helene in late September and Hurricane Milton in early October. Before Hurricane Helene, Florida home listings saw an average clickthrough rate of 8%. This rate increased to 9.4% by September 29, three days after Helene made landfall, and reached a peak of 16.3% on October 7, when a flood watch was issued for Hurricane Milton. The clickthrough rate in Florida reverted to its pre-Helene average by mid-October 2024. Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, also impacted by these storms, experienced smaller increases in homebuyer engagement with climate-risk data. Climate-risk information on Redfin home listings is provided by First Street.
Nationally, the clickthrough rate for climate-risk sections also saw increases following these events, though less dramatically. The national rate rose from 3.3% the week before Hurricane Helene to 4.1% the week Hurricane Milton made landfall, returning to previous levels by October 21, 2024. For the Los Angeles wildfires, the national rate increased from 3.5% to 3.9% and returned to pre-fire levels by March 24, 2025. This suggests that the impact on homebuyer behavior is primarily localized. Redfin Senior Economist Yingqi Xu stated, “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.”
A Redfin-commissioned Ipsos survey from May 2025 indicated that 67.6% of U.
S. residents consider living in a low natural disaster risk area non-negotiable. Despite this, many still reside in higher-risk locations. However, a shift may be occurring, as more people moved out of than into flood-prone areas in the last year for the first time since 2019.
In the third quarter, Redfin users in Mississippi had the highest clickthrough rate for climate-risk data at 9.6%, followed by Louisiana (9.2%), Vermont (8.9%), West Virginia (8.3%), and Florida (7.2%). Washington, D.
C., Nevada, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Arizona recorded the lowest rates. Mississippi and Louisiana are ranked as the two most vulnerable states in the Climate Vulnerability Index by the Environmental Defense Fund and Texas A&M University, both prone to hurricanes and tornadoes.
Louisiana’s high homeowner’s insurance costs, significantly influenced by flood and storm risk, contribute to high engagement. The average annual cost of homeowner’s insurance in Louisiana was $10,964 in 2024, an increase of 38% from the previous year, with projections by Insurify indicating a further 27% rise to $13,937 by the end of 2025. This contrasts with a projected national average of $3,520 for the end of 2025. Jason Gale, a Redfin Premier real estate agent in New Orleans, highlighted the impact: “A lot of homebuyers have backed out of deals because they couldn’t find insurance that fit their budget. It’s critical that buyers find lenders that understand the nuance of their market.” In Orleans Parish, New Orleans is located, 99.1% of homes face high flood risk. Redfin is a technology-driven real estate company and part of Rocket Companies, aiming to create an integrated homeownership platform.
