Zillow is closing down its iBuying arm, Zillow Offers, citing “unpredictability in forecasting home prices.” Zillow had previously announced it would not buy more homes in 2021, and instead turn its focus to renovating and selling its backstock of inventory. “We’re operating within a labor and supply-constrained economy inside a competitive real estate market, especially in the construction, renovation and closing spaces,” Chief Operating Officer Jeremy Wacksman said of the move. “We have not been exempted from these market and capacity issues.” But Zillow CEO Rich Barton later acknowledged Zillow’s failure was its inability to predict home-price appreciation. Now, two weeks later, it is shuttering altogether. The company dropped the news as part of its third-quarter earnings report. Zillow Offers lost $381 million last…
Zillow’s iBuying division, Zillow Offers, will stop buying new homes for the rest of the year. Zillow Offers has been operating in house flipping for more than three years, buying, renovating, then selling homes. However, it has announced that it will switch gears and focus on its backlog of existing contracts and selling the homes it currently owns. In response to this news, Zillow stock plummeted 10% on Monday. The company cited challenges related to construction and labor contracts. “We’re operating within a labor- and supply-constrained economy inside a competitive real estate market, especially in the construction, renovation and closing spaces,” Chief Operating Officer Jeremy Wacksman said. “We have not been exempt from these market and capacity issues.” Homebuilders have…
More than 100 economists and real estate experts who participated in Zillow’s Q3 Home Price Expectations Survey say they expect the housing market to remain relatively stable in the coming months. Their predictions are based on the premise that many homeowners have put off listing their homes for fear of having to then buy or rent while prices are high. Improvements in buying conditions may be modest, but the market is cooling, which should put potential sellers at ease. The survey is sponsored by Zillow and conducted quarterly by Pulsenomics. “Across the U.S., home value appreciation rates and annual rent price increases are at historically high levels, and home price expectations are now the highest we’ve recorded in the 12-year…
A U.S. District Court judge denied motions by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and Zillow to dismiss an antitrust challenge from the real-estate tech company Real Estate Exchange (REX), saying that REX provided sufficient evidence that NAR and Zillow conspired to restrain trade and to harm consumers. REX sued on the grounds that a NAR segregation rule— a rule followed by Zillow that separates new technology listings on its site from traditional broker listings in a different tab, titled “Other Listings”– violates antitrust and consumer protection laws. They argued the policy privileges traditional broker models that include 5-6% commission fees for buyers. REX said the “Other Listings” tab was a “recessed, obscured, and deceptive tab that consumers do not…
Fortune released its Top 100 Places to Work list Monday, with four mortgage/real estate companies making the list – led by Rocket Companies at No. 5. Here are the four companies that made the list (Cisco was No. 1): 5. Rocket Companies 8. Camden Property Trust 22. Bank of America 47. Zillow Group “Everything we do is framed by our culture and by our ISMs. Over the past year, we have been guided by the ISM ‘We’ll Figure it Out’ as we navigated the challenges introduced by the pandemic while still creating the best possible experience for our team members,” said Jay Farner, Rocket Companies’ CEO and Vice Chairman. “When COVID-19 began spreading across the country in the U.S., we rapidly launched…
It started innocently enough: I look at Zillow like it’s my social media. 🤷🏻♀️🏡— Whitney Ortiz (@OrtizWhit) March 30, 2021 Which Zillow appreciated: We like to think of it as research 😎— Zillow (@zillow) March 30, 2021 But then RE/MAX had something to say: You might want to try a more trusted site. 😉— RE/MAX (@remax) March 30, 2021 We’ll update you with any developments in the burgeoning Twitter war.…
Zillow announced Thursday that it will hire more than 2,000 employees across the country this year, which would increase its workforce by 40 percent. Most of the new roles would be working in the tech, mortgage and loans, and product and software development functions, Zillow said. The new roles would be a mix of field and on-site roles. “While we boldly reimagine how to buy and sell homes for today’s digitally minded customer, Zillow is seizing the opportunity to reimagine how we work,” says Dan Spaulding, chief people officer at Zillow. “Our Distributed Workforce Model is a more inclusive, more personalized, more flexible, more efficient way of working. We are broadening our pipelines to attract more underrepresented talent and are…
The value for Black and Latino-owned homes lags behind overall home values, but the gap is narrowing, according to a new analysis released Tuesday by Zillow. The analysis found that Black and Latino-owned homes are worth 16.2 percent and 10.2 percent less than the typical U.S. home – values that have closed by roughly 4 percentage points in recent years. “It has taken nearly a decade for the home value gap to return to pre-recession levels, but still, the gap remains very large,” Zillow economist Treh Manhertz said. “With Black and brown communities and jobs hit disproportionately hard in the pandemic, there has been reason to worry another dip may be on the horizon that could slow or stop the…
Zillow announced third quarter financial results, as the online real estate company posted strong revenue amid the coronavirus pandemic. “Zillow’s strong third quarter results reflect impressive execution during a time of challenge and opportunity,” Zillow Group co-founder and CEO Rich Barton said. “Many of us are re-evaluating where we live and how we live, which has kicked off a Great Reshuffling, and we need safe, digital ways to get to a better place.” Total consolidated revenue of $657 million and revenue for all three segments exceeded the high end of the company’s revenue outlook for the third quarter.Segment income (loss) before income taxes was $140 million, $(76) million and $11 million for the IMT, Homes, and Mortgages segments, respectively, and…
Mortgage rates are sitting at record lows and US homeowners are taking advantage by refinancing their mortgages. For those who haven’t refinanced, Zillow is offering a look at how much they could save on the typical house in markets across the country. “Choosing whether to refinance your mortgage is ultimately a personal choice, but recent moves in mortgage rates have probably made that decision a whole lot easier for those who qualify,” Zillow economist Matthew Speakman said. “Mortgage rate declines have allowed many to lower their monthly mortgage payment or tap into the equity they’ve built in their home by refinancing their loan – offering some financial stability to many in a time of great economic uncertainty. With rates poised to…
