It can be easy to be overwhelmed by the abundance of information online today. If you are looking to purchase a home, you may be curious about which website will be best. If you are a real estate agent, you probably want to know which website will be the most valuable for posting your listings.
Data analyst BuildZoom compared Zillow and realtor.com listings in 51 US cities. It was looking for “the best listing site”. The results depend on which metro area you live in.
For 40 out of the 51 cities, realtor.com came out on top with more homes listed for sale.
The three dominating websites for real estate are Zillow, realtor.com and Trulia. Zillow boasts the most visitors, and is followed by Zillow with Trulia trailing in third.
BuildZoom Chief Economist Issi Romem pointed out in a blog that BuildZoom began to track and compare listing numbers on Zillow and realtor.com after an agreement Zillow had with ListHub ended and Zillow started directly contracting with local multiple listing services (MLSs). However, BuildZoom was contacted by Zillow’s lawyers with a cease and desist order to stop using automated systems to collect information from the company. BuildZoom then manually collected data in a more limited number of cities.
Romem points out that there are other factors to compare which site is best, outside of who has the most listings.
“As long as Zillow Group continues to draw substantially more traffic than realtor.com, agents and brokers will continue to feel compelled to advertise on its portals,” concludes Romem. “As a result, Zillow Group revenue is less sensitive to its listing coverage than one might think.”
So is Zillow the best?
“We suspect Zillow Group is destined for an uphill battle,” Romem says. “The nature of relationships between the MLSs and Zillow Group’s portals are the subject of passionate disagreement, and Zillow Group may find it difficult to win over ‘multiple’ hearts and minds.”
If you are having trouble deciding which site to use, maybe check out a few to find what best suits your needs.
Still need guidance for buying or selling a home in the Miami area? Look no further than RE/MAX Paradise and contact us today!