Redfin to Add Air Quality Data to Property Listings

The Fast Company reports that real estate site Redfin will be adding an air quality factor to the data it provides on home listings. The new air quality factor will join existing flood, heat, and wind factors under a property’s “climate risk” tab; other more traditional tabs include information on the property’s zoning, nearby schools, and the neighborhood. The air quality data will be provided by First Street Foundation, a climate-risk-data provider.

The move comes as a report from First Street shows 25 percent of Americans live in places with healthy air quality. Research from Redfin has also revealed that over 1.2 million people moved away from cities at risk of poor air quality between 2021. While cost could have been a driving factor behind that trend (the same report found that homes in cities at high risk for air quality were also about 65 percent more expensive than those in low risk areas), “a recent survey from Forbes Home found that 30 percent of Americans cite climate change and its accompanying worsening disasters as a motivator for moving in 2024,” reports Kristin Toussaint for Fast Company. 

The wildfire smoke that descended on the U.S. East Coast from Canada last summer and talks at the COP26 last November have more recently elevated air quality to a topic of national conversation. While it is a crucial discussion, particularly as climate change intensifies wildfires, it is also important to note that poor air quality driven by factors such as vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions have long been, and continue to be, a significant concern, particularly for people in minority, low-income, and tribal communities, who have long been disproportionately impacted and many of whom don’t have the means to move cities or states to protect their health.