Zillow Group reports on a real estate technology platform that connects consumers with homes, rentals, real estate agents, loan officers and housing providers. Company updates commonly cover financial results across residential, rentals, mortgages and for-sale activity, along with products such as Zillow Showcase, Zillow Home Loans, Zillow Rentals, Zillow New Construction, ShowingTime, dotloop and agent software tools.
News also includes Zillow housing-market research, including home value, rent, inventory, affordability and buyer-engagement data. Other recurring themes include pre-market listing products such as Zillow Preview, brokerage participation, marketplace transparency, AI-enabled search tools and services for renters, buyers, sellers and real estate professionals.
Zillow (Z, ZG) found newly built homes cost less per square foot than existing homes nationwide in July 2026. The median was $205 for new homes versus $212 for existing homes. New homes sold at a discount in 17 of the past 19 months, reversing a pattern in which they carried a premium in 77 of 84 months from 2018 to 2024. Austin had a 19.3% new-home discount per square foot, followed by Raleigh at 14.4% and Tampa at 12.4%.
New homes made up 12.6% of U.S. sales in the 12 months ending July 2026, matching their 2019 share after reaching 16.7% in 2023. The share ranged from 37.1% in San Antonio to 2% in Hartford. U.S. new-home supply was 9.6 months in July 2026, versus 7.6 months two years earlier, while resale inventory remained 17.1% below its pre-pandemic level. Zillow linked the discount to greater builder competition where construction has been more active.
Zillow (Z, ZG) reported 4.8 engaged home shoppers per U.S. listing in the second quarter of 2026. An engaged shopper saved or shared a for-sale listing on Zillow. The per-listing figure rose 21.4% year over year, while home sales rose 4.5% over the same period.
Luxury listings had a median of eight engaged shoppers per listing, versus 2.7 for bottom-tier homes. Engagement for luxury listings grew 25.7% year over year, compared with 8.6% for bottom-tier homes. Listings with four or more bedrooms drew 6.6 engaged shoppers per listing, versus 3.5 for two-bedroom listings.
Zillow (Z) and Realtor.com launched Preview℠ listings on both platforms on Sept. 17, 2026, giving buyers simultaneous early access to pre-market homes without special logins or brokerage ties.
The collaboration is described as the largest pre-market syndication effort in U.S. residential real estate, with more than 400 brokerage partners enrolled, including major national brands. Preview homes are clearly labeled and receive enhanced placement in search results and email alerts on both sites, and buyers can save homes, contact the listing agent, pre-book tours and use the extra time to secure financing. Zillow cites survey data that 88% of Americans are at least somewhat interested in viewing pre-listed homes online. Zillow reports that Preview listings generate 18% more views, 9% more shares and 7% more saves than comparable listings in the first 14 days on market.
Zillow Group (Z, ZG) reports that in August 2026, typical renting cost $1,066 less per month than buying in the United States, based on its Zillow Observed Rent Index and rent versus buy methodology.
The typical U.S. rent was $1,948, while the estimated monthly payment for a new home buyer, including taxes and insurance, was $3,014, creating annual savings of $12,792 for renters. If that monthly difference is invested at the 10-year Treasury yield of 4.68%, renters could earn an additional $322 in the first year and a cumulative $8,041 over five years, contributing to a potential $72,000 in total savings over that period, assuming costs stay stable.
In all 50 largest U.S. metros, typical rent is below the monthly cost of homeownership, with the largest gaps in San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. Zillow highlights tools such as its rent versus buy analysis, AI search mode and rent affordability calculator to help households evaluate these trade-offs.
Zillow (Z) reports that after a historic boom, new home construction is slowing as permitting and completions decline.
Over the 12 months ending July 2026, U.S. residential building permits fell 1.7% year over year to about 1.42 million, and are running a record 19.4% below the 2016–2020 pre‑pandemic trend. Permitting has declined year over year for 44 consecutive months. Detached single‑family completions dropped for the third straight year in 2025, down 2.5% from 2024 to roughly 817,000 homes.
Zillow highlights sharp permit pullbacks in Sun Belt boom markets such as Austin (-25.3%) and San Antonio (-24.1%), alongside gains in coastal and Midwestern metros including San Jose (+122%), Seattle (+35.8%) and Los Angeles (+30.6%).
Builders are shifting toward smaller, denser and faster‑built homes: the median detached home completed in 2025 was 2,300 sq. ft. on an 8,700 sq. ft. lot and took six months to construct. Zillow cites a U.S. housing deficit of 4.7 million units and notes that turnkey homes sell for 2.9% above expected values, while fixer‑uppers sell for 14% less.
Zillow (Z) reports that August 2026 U.S. home sales fell 0.6% year over year and 10.7% from July amid mortgage rates above 6.5%.
Newly pending listings, a leading demand indicator, declined 2.6% annually, and Zillow expects continued softness in the for-sale market as affordability pressures push demand toward rentals. The typical U.S. home value was $369,678, up 1.3% year over year but down 0.1% month over month, while the estimated monthly mortgage payment on a typical home reached $1,897, 2% higher than a year earlier.
Inventory rose to 1.41 million homes, 3% above last year and 0.2% above July, yet new listings slipped 7.9% from July to 356,934. Rents climbed 2.5% year over year to $1,948, with concessions offered on 39.2% of rental listings, suggesting the rental market is absorbing demand sidelined from buying.
Zillow (Z) released new rental search data showing where out-of-town interest is rising fastest and which metros attract the most nonlocal renters.
Out-of-town rental search shares grew the most year over year in Buffalo (+4.2 percentage points), Chicago (+3.7), Houston (+3.4), New Orleans (+3.2) and Dallas (+3), signaling potential future relocation demand. Local search share grew most in Cincinnati (+8.1), followed by Jacksonville (+4.6) and Columbus (+3.2), suggesting stronger homegrown interest in those markets.
Raleigh leads for out-of-town focus, with 59% of rental page views from outside the metro, followed by Hartford (55.1%), New Orleans (53.7%), Salt Lake City (51.9%), Nashville (51.7%) and Providence (51.5%). New York, Los Angeles and Chicago remain the most locally driven markets by share of rental views from residents.
Top cross-metro flows include Washington, D.C. renters viewing Baltimore (23.9% of Baltimore rental views), Los Angeles renters viewing Riverside (21.3%), San Francisco renters viewing San Jose (17.6%) and Boston renters viewing Providence (16.1%). Long-distance flows are led by New York renters viewing Hartford (6% of Hartford rental views), with sizable New York interest also in Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Raleigh.
Zillow (Nasdaq: Z, ZG) reports that since launching its free rent reporting program in 2024, it has submitted more than 1.78 million on-time rent payments to major credit bureaus. In July 2026 alone, over 78,000 renters had payments reported, a 26% increase year over year, indicating growing use of tools that convert rent into credit history.
According to Zillow, nearly one-third of 2025 mortgage denials were due to insufficient credit history. Through its in-app rent reporting and the Esusu-powered CreditClimb tool, renters can have on-time payments reported even if they do not pay rent via Zillow, with Esusu users seeing an average 53‑point credit score increase.
Zillow Group (Nasdaq: Z, ZG) announced it will present at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference in San Francisco. Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Hofmann is scheduled for a fireside chat on Thursday, Sept. 10, at 10:50 a.m. PT / 1:50 p.m. ET.
Investors can register and access a live webcast, with both live and recorded versions available in the Events & Presentations section of Zillow Group's investor relations website.
Zillow (NASDAQ: Z) announced it has resolved a lawsuit with the Federal Trade Commission and five states related to its multifamily rental listings syndication agreement with Redfin, allowing the partnership to continue. Listings syndication will remain in place across Zillow, Trulia, HotPads, Rent.com, ApartmentGuide and Redfin.
In 2027, Zillow and Redfin plan to add standalone multifamily advertising products alongside the existing syndication. According to Zillow, since launch, multifamily properties on Redfin nearly quadrupled and those on Zillow grew about 40%, driving more leads, faster vacancy fills, and lower customer acquisition costs for housing providers.