The reality is even the least expensive parts of California have become unaffordable for homebuyers. Ponder affordability data from Attom, which tracks the typical house hunter's financial challenges dating to 2005 in 36 California counties. By comparing home values, mortgage rates and household incomes, Attom determined the share of income required for a home purchase.
All of the teams named as defendants advertise on either their social media channels or website that they are part of the Zillow Flex program. Similarly to the two original complaints, the consolidated amended complaint claims that Zillow, and now the real estate defendants, violated a variety of statutes, including the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the Washington Consumer Protection Act, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and the law of unjust enrichment and fiduciary duty.
Shares of Zillow Group ( Z), which claims to be the most visited real estate website in the U.S., tumbled over 10% Monday after Alphabet's ( GOOGL) Google began testing full home ads in its search results, including links to request tours and agent contacts. Other companies with home listing sites such as CoStar ( CSGP) and Rocket Companies ( RKT) also saw their stocks lose ground.
The search result displays include all property details, along with links to request a tour or contact a buyer's agent. The displays note that the property results are not supplied or sponsored by listing agents or brokers. Industry analysts say the potential for Google to enter into the home search portal space has been viewed as a tail risk to portals like Zillow and CoStar, as well as other industry players, for years.
Google appears to be running tests on putting real estate sale listings into its search results. Over the weekend, real estate tech strategist Mike DelPrete published mobile phone screenshots of Google Search results showing real estate listings, which appeared to be powered by real estate data company "HouseCanary." The listings allowed users to view the full details of a property's page, request a tour and contact an agent similar to the functions offered on Zillow.com's online marketplace portal.
As tensions between CoStar Group and Zillow continue to heat up, Zillow has claimed that CoStar did not renew its Matterport API agreement. CoStar closed its $1.6 billion acquisition of Matterport in March, meaning that it would be up to CoStar to decide if it wanted to renew the API agreement with Zillow. Matterport and CoStar first announced the deal in April 2024.
Paying rent is often a renter's biggest and most consistent monthly expense. It makes sense that this payment should help build their credit, said Michael Sherman, senior vice president of Zillow Rentals. By expanding rent reporting, we're helping more renters build their credit history and take control of their financial future while reinforcing Zillow's role as a trusted partner throughout their housing journey.
Zillow didn't ask permission from the MLSs or brokers who own that data before transmitting it into OpenAI's ChatGPT environment, Lund wrote. According to Lund, Zillow's IDX licenses permit it to display MLS data on its website and its mobile app. But these permissions do not extend to Zillow's ability to publish or transmit MLS data to other domains, especially those controlled by other companies. ChatGPT is not a Zillow property.
This makes Zillow the only real estate app available through the ChatGPT platform. When users now ask ChatGPT questions like, What can I afford nearby? or Show me homes with a big backyard, the Zillow app in ChatGPT will provide them with listings complete with photos, maps and pricing. Zillow noted that this information will be attributed to the listing agent and MLS.
A Seattle law firm specializing in large class-action litigation claims Zillow illegally tricks homebuyers into working with Zillow agents forced to split their commission with the real estate listings giant. In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, a man who bought a home in Portland with a Zillow agent claims the Seattle-based company, which is a licensed brokerage in several states, aimed to defraud him and other homebuyers.
Many buyers struggle to picture themselves in a home, especially when it's empty or styled differently from their own, the release states. Virtual Staging gives them a quick, interactive way to see how it could look and feel in a style they love. The launch of Virtual Staging is the first major integration Zillow has made since its acquisition of Virtual Staging AI last October.
