Flood Factor – the first openly available and comprehensive flood data set for the US – by First Street Foundation received unprecedented attention when it launched earlier in the summer. Underpinned by Fathom flood hazard data, Flood Factor enables individuals to view a flood rating for any address across the continental US.
Now, prospective home buyers will have easy access to the flood-risk rating of any property, thanks to a new partnership between realtor.com® and Flood Factor which was described by CNBC as having “a huge impact on the national housing market”. Flood Factor uses flood risk data and analysis from our Fathom-US 2.0 model to create a risk index rating from 1 (low risk) to 10 (high risk) on more than 142 million houses across the US. In a first-of-its-kind data integration, realtor.com® will now add those scores on all property listings alongside FEMA flood designations for potential buyers to consider – approximately 110 million home listings in total.
Flood Factor uses flood risk data and analysis from our Fathom-US 2.0 model to create a risk index rating from 1 (low risk) to 10 (high risk) on more than 142 million houses across the US. In a first-of-its-kind data integration, realtor.com® will now add those scores on all property listings alongside FEMA flood designations for potential buyers to consider – approximately 110 million home listings in total.
They are the first real estate website to disclose this information about flood risk and how climate change could affect that risk over the next 30 years, putting prospective buyers in a stronger position to make more informed decisions about flood insurance and preventative measures.
Matthew Eby, Executive Director of First Street Foundation, said: “Integrating Flood Factor on realtor.com® provides millions of current and future homeowners with a comprehensive, accessible understanding of a property’s flood risk due to a changing environment over the life of a 30-year mortgage.”
