Zillow

Zillow’s recent exit from iBuying sent a shockwave through my confidence that iBuying has a long-term profitable place in real estate tech. As I thought it through, I concluded it’s too early to tell if the iBuying opportunity will stand…

Where do I start? An easy place is that I was wrong. I believed that, long term, Zillow’s outsized brand in the US residential real estate market would be a competitive advantage in winning iBuying customers. My thinking continued that…

Gene and David recap the earnings season for real estate tech and conclude that despite strong results, investors are waiting to see how these companies perform in a slower housing market before giving them credit. In the end, we believe…

Gene is joined by John Wanninger, a residential real estate professional with 35 years of experience, to talk about why iBuying is flawed today and how it can gain traction in the future.

Real estate tech has sold off substantially over the past four months, with Zillow and Opendoor down roughly 40% and 50%, respectively. For perspective, over the same time period, FAANG is up 10% and the Nasdaq is up 3%. Apart…

Zillow recently announced accuracy improvements for off-market Zestimates, which will now utilize neural networks to generate valuations. We believe historically the majority of the Zestimate used algorithms that were designed by data scientists. These algorithms are static in nature and therefore, have…

A number of companies are going after the opportunity to disrupt residential real estate – Zillow, Opendoor, Redfin, Offerpad, Compass, Homeward, and Porch, to name a few. The reason is that residential real estate is 1) a massive, fragmented market…

Every month the National Association of Realtors reports the number of residential home sales and the median home sales price. We watch the numbers closely as we view them as directional indicators for the near-term health of the iBuying theme, in…

Over the past two months we’ve published notes exploring the mechanics, importance, and credibility of the Zestimate. For an additional perspective, we surveyed 167 US homeowners to get their perspective. Bottom line: 56% of respondents viewed the Zestimate as credible,…

Opendoor reported March results with revenue 20% above the Street and raised June guidance 15% above consensus. The company sold 2,462 homes in the quarter, versus Street expectations around 2,140. The results are confirming that the iBuying theme is real,…

Zillow’s March results reveal the near-term business is doing better than planned, and the long-term opportunity is intact. That said, the timing of getting the iBuying flywheel up to speed is lumpy. This lumpiness comes in the form of an…

iBuying accounts for less than 1% of the US residential real estate market, which begs the question whether home sellers and buyers actually want to transact online. The argument is that because the home often represents the most significant part…