How Accurate are Zillow Estimates?

"How accurate are Zillow estimates?"

​Zillow (and Realtor.com, as well as Redfin) are great resources that are used often by consumers. These sites are useful to look at properties and get a general idea of what is happening in the real estate market. Each site offers an estimate of what a property could sell for if it were to be listed on the market. 

If you compare the three sites' estimations, you may often find big differences between them for the same property. Take this example from a recent Home Equity Review I provided to a client (and yes, we do look at this information). There was very little consistency in the estimated values.

Zillow: $491,000

Redfin: $467,000

Realtor.com: $518,000

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...and here's a second example:

Zillow: $704,000

Redfin: $762,000

Realtor.com: $789,000

Why is that? Each site uses an algorithm to determine the estimated value based on sales nearby. However, what these algorithms don't take into account is the human eye and looking at differences between the properties. A Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) looks at the local market in real time, where a Realtor will review the recent sales and differences between the homes that recently sold to determine what a home could sell for in today's market. Updates, size of property, and location are some of the factors that we Realtors look at when making the estimation.

​Don't forget that real estate is hyper local! If you want to know more about what the value of your home could be, here's a free home valuation tool I provide that will update you monthly by email.