The move is a loss for homebuyers, who through Zillow had ready access to a property's climate risk scores from First Street.

This story first appeared on Real Estate News.

Home search leader Zillow has changed the way that it shares climate risk information — directing visitors to the website of data partner First Street rather than surfacing it on Zillow home detail pages.

“This update ensures consumers continue to have access to important information to help them consider factors such as insurance, repair costs and long-term homeownership planning, and reflects our long-standing commitment to empowering consumers with transparent information,” a Zillow spokesperson shared with Real Estate News over email when asked about the move.

What’s less clear is the role one of the nation’s largest MLSs played in the change.

First reported by The New York Times in late November, Zillow’s removal of climate risk data from its listings comes as industry stakeholders vigorously debate over the ownership of listing data and as home insurance prices continue to skyrocket.

Why Zillow made the change — for all its listings

The New York Times story highlighted complaints from real estate agents along with the California Regional Multiple Listing Service (CRMLS) and its CEO Art Carter about perceived discrepancies and inconsistencies in the climate risk data, and implied that Zillow’s change was done under pressure from CRMLS.

In a statement shared with Real Estate News, a Zillow spokesperson said that the change was made to comply with different MLS requirements but did not highlight CRMLS specifically. Zillow’s change in the way it displays climate risk data has been applied to all listings on the site, not just homes in California or those within CRMLS’ jurisdiction. 

“Zillow remains committed to providing consumers with information that helps them make informed real estate decisions. We updated our climate risk product experience to adhere to varying MLS requirements and maintain a consistent experience for all consumers,” the spokesperson said.

However, other leading portals are still showing climate data in home listings. “You can still find property level climate risk scores on Redfin,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather wrote in a social media post that linked to the New York Times story. 

CRMLS’s role and response

“There was no change in the rules,” a CRMLS spokesperson said over email when asked if there was a specific update in MLS standards and practices that would have led to Zillow’s move.  

So why now? If Zillow has implied that the change was made in order to remain in compliance with MLS practices, what exactly was CRMLS’s role in the change to home search site’s display of climate data? The dispute between Zillow and CRMLS could also be viewed as another example of the ongoing fight among major industry stakeholders over the control of listings and listing data. 

In October, CRMLS and Compass engaged in a feud over the MLS’s end user licensing agreement, which Compass CEO Robert Reffkin argued forced “over 100,000 agents to accept a 10-page agreement giving CRMLS the right to sell the agents’ content and contribution.” Carter said the MLS serves its users by managing the data they provide “as a set, not as a bunch of individual fragments” and the agreement reflects that.

The impact of skyrocketing insurance rates

As organized real estate and home search sites debate the accuracy of climate data and the merits of displaying it on property listings, one issue that isn’t being disputed is the rising cost of home insurance. Zillow’s move to point consumers off the site to explore climate risks comes at a time when more homeowners are seeing major increases in their insurance premiums and others are actually seeing the steep costs of insurance eat into their home value. 

While speaking at a November event for ResiClub, Cotality Chief Data and Analytics Officer John Rogers said the average annual change in homeowners insurance premiums was 14% for both 2023 and 2024 and is expected to be 10% in 2025. Rogers also forecasted an 8% rise in premiums for 2026 and in 2027. 

But California home owners and buyers are being hit particularly hard. According to the California Association of Realtors’ latest State of the Market annual report and survey, over a quarter of member agents signaled that their buyers were having difficulty obtaining insurance. And the number of buyers losing out on a home because of issues with home insurance has been increasing. Last year, over 14% of member agents reported that at least one sale fell through because buyers could not secure homeowners insurance while the number rose to over 16% in 2025.

This story originally appeared on Real Estate News.

Zillow continues to be an overachiever, at least with its financial performance. 

The home search giant’s revenue has consistently beat expectations for the past two years, and Q3 was no different: Revenue was $676 million for the third quarter, up 16% year-over-year and above the company’s previous guidance, driven by the strength of its rentals and mortgage divisions.

Rentals revenue was up 41% year-over-year to $174 million, while mortgage revenue increased 36% to $53 million, according to Zillow’s shareholder letter. The company’s main revenue stream, residential, rose 7% to $435 million.

Zillow also turned a profit, netting $10 million during the quarter and sustaining its run of profitability for a third consecutive quarter.

What Zillow had to say

While Zillow’s financials were strong, it was also mired in litigation during the quarter, something CEO Jeremy Wacksman touched on during the earnings call.

On lawsuits: Wacksman briefly addressed some of the company’s litigation issues, particularly the lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission over Zillow’s rental agreement with Redfin. 

The FTC alleges that Zillow and Redfin illegally conspired to eliminate competition in the rental listings market with a syndication agreement. Attorney generals from five states filed a similar lawsuit a day later.

Wacksman noted that they’ve had the agreement in place for about six months and have seen the benefits for both consumers and property managers.

“So to us it’s obviously pro-consumer and pro-property manager, which makes it pro-competitive,” Wacksman said. “We look forward to making that case as the process plays out.”

On the Compass-Anywhere merger: Investors asked what impact the deal might have if it leads to more private listings — a core part of Compass’ three-phased marketing strategy — which are largely prohibited on Zillow’s site after it adopted new listing standards (prompting a lawsuit from Compass).

Wacksman said he doesn’t foresee any big impact to Zillow’s business.

“We do see maybe more noise around hidden listings and the potential to push more hidden listings onto sellers and to buyers and to harm consumers,” Wacksman said, adding that much of the industry is on board with Zillow’s private listing ban.

Consumers “don’t want to put the internet back in the box, and we expect that behavior to continue, because agents are trying to do right by their sellers and sell their homes,” Wacksman added.

Key numbers

Revenue: $676 million, up 16% year-over-year. Residential increased 7% to $435 million; mortgage revenue was up 36% to $53 million; and rentals revenue climbed 41% to $174 million.

Cash and investments: $1.4 billion at the end of September, up from $1.2 billion at the end of June.

Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization): $165 million in Q3, up from $127 million a year earlier.

Net income/loss: A gain of $10 million in Q3, up from $2 million the previous quarter, an improvement over its $20 million loss a year ago.

Traffic and visits: Traffic across all Zillow Group websites and apps totaled 250 million average monthly unique users in Q3, up 7% year-over-year, the company said. Total visits were 2.5 billion in Q3, up 4% year-over-year. 

Q4 outlook: For the fourth quarter, Zillow estimates revenue will be in the $645 million to $655 million range, which would represent high single-digit year-over-year growth.

Notable moves

Zillow was busy dealing with litigation during the third quarter:

• The private listings lawsuit filed by Compass in June has resulted in an ongoing legal back-and-forth between the two parties.
• CoStar filed a copyright infringement case against Zillow in July over the alleged improper use of photos.
• The FTC case filed in September has the potential to affect Zillow’s business structure.
• Also in September, a class action lawsuit was filed alleging inflated costs related to Zillow’s flex referral program, and a former employee sued the company over alleged discrimination.

The company also had positive news to share during the quarter, noting in September that more than 50 brokerages had adopted Zillow Showcase. Newly named partners include The Agency, LPT Realty and Century 21 Masters in California.

“At The Agency, we’re always looking for ways to give our agents every advantage in showcasing their listings,” said Mauricio Umansky, CEO and founder of The Agency, adding that the partnership “allows us to maximize exposure, put homes in the best light and reach more potential buyers.”

In July, Zillow unveiled a new suite of products including Skytour, which allows home shoppers to get an interactive birds-eye view of a home and its surroundings, and is available exclusively to Showcase clients. 

The company also hired a new chief economist in the third quarter. Mischa Fisher, who most recently taught data science at Northwestern University, has experience analyzing housing, labor and consumer spending data. She replaces former chief economist Skylar Olsen.

Editor’s note: Story updated with details from the company’s earnings call.