Zillow Group Stock Price, News & Analysis

According to Zillow's latest analysis, the Spring 2025 housing market shows significant regional variations in buyer competition. Nationwide, there are 5.5 engaged home shoppers per listing, with Northeast markets experiencing the highest competition. Buffalo, Hartford, Providence, and Boston see more than 10 buyers per listing, leading to bidding wars and quick sales.

The Sun Belt region offers more favorable conditions for buyers, with 12 of the 14 least competitive markets located there. Miami has the lowest competition, with only 2.6 shoppers per listing. The market is showing signs of balance with inventory up 20% year-over-year and 25% of sellers cutting prices - a record high for April. Despite continued affordability challenges, buyers have gained more negotiating power compared to recent springs.

Zillow reports that rental-hunting activity is reaching its peak as June 2025 approaches, with website traffic, landlord messages, and applications typically peaking in the first week of June. The platform is experiencing higher activity compared to previous years, with rental households hitting a record high of 46 million. Zillow currently hosts over 2 million active listings, surpassing any other rental network.

While 2024 saw the largest rental construction boom since the 1970s, lease concessions are declining, with the share of listings offering incentives dropping from 40% in March to under 35% in April. Renters, who are nearly four times more likely to move than homeowners, can utilize Zillow's tools including move-in-date filters, 3D tours, and rent affordability calculators to streamline their search and maintain their budget.

According to Zillow's latest market report, the housing market shows mixed signals as newly pending sales fell 2.5% year-over-year in April 2025, despite lower mortgage rates. However, new listings surged 7.6% compared to last year, with 44 of 50 largest metros seeing increases. Inventory levels rose nearly 20% year-over-year, reaching levels not seen since August 2020.

Economic uncertainty has caused buyer hesitation, though mortgage payments are 1.3% lower than last year. 25% of Zillow listings saw price cuts in April - the highest share since 2018. Homes now take a median of 16 days to sell, three days slower than last year. Regional variations show stronger seller markets in the Northeast, particularly in Buffalo, Hartford, and Boston, while buyers have more leverage in Southern markets like Tampa, Jacksonville, and Miami.

Zillow Group (Nasdaq: Z, ZG) announced its participation in the upcoming Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference in New York. CEO Jeremy Wacksman will engage in a fireside chat scheduled for Thursday, May 29, at 10:30 a.m. PT / 1:30 p.m. ET. Investors and interested parties can access the live webcast through registration, and both live and recorded versions will be available in the Events & Presentations section of Zillow Group's Investor Relations website.

Zillow's latest analysis reveals a significant surge in rental affordability challenges across the US. The income required to comfortably afford rent nationwide has jumped to $80,000 from $60,000 five years ago. Eight major metro areas now require six-figure incomes to afford rent, double the number from 2020.

The most expensive markets are San Jose ($137K), New York ($136K), and Boston ($127K), while the most affordable are Buffalo ($55K), Oklahoma City ($56K), and Louisville ($57K). Typical US rent has increased by 28.7% for apartments and 42.9% for single-family homes since April 2020, outpacing the 22.5% growth in median household income.

In six of the eight most expensive markets, median households spend over 30% of income on rent, except for San Jose and San Francisco, where wages have better kept pace with rental costs.

A new Zillow analysis reveals that renters now need to earn over $80,000 annually to comfortably afford typical rental housing in the US, up from $60,000 five years ago. The number of markets requiring six-figure incomes for comfortable renting has doubled since 2020, now including eight major metros.

Since April 2020, typical US apartment rents increased by 28.7% to $1,858, while single-family home rents rose 42.9% to $2,256, outpacing median household income growth of 22.5%. The most expensive rental markets are New York ($145K income needed), San Jose ($137K), and Boston ($127K), while the most affordable are Buffalo ($55K), Oklahoma City ($56K), and Louisville ($57K).

Zillow Group (NASDAQ: Z) reported strong Q1 2025 financial results, with revenue increasing 13% year-over-year to $598 million, exceeding expectations by $15 million. The company achieved net income of $8 million with a 1% margin, compared to a loss in the previous year. Key performance highlights include:

- For Sale revenue grew 8% to $458 million - Rentals revenue surged 33% to $129 million, with multifamily revenue up 47% - Mortgages revenue increased 32% to $41 million - Adjusted EBITDA reached $153 million (26% of revenue) - Traffic reached 227 million average monthly unique users (+5% YoY) - Cash and investments stood at $1.6 billion, with $250 million used for share repurchases

West USA Realty, Arizona's largest regional real estate brand with over 3,000 agents across 16 offices, has partnered with Zillow to adopt new listing access standards promoting transparency in real estate listings. The standards, effective May 2025, implement the National Association of Realtors' Clear Cooperation policy, requiring publicly marketed listings to be entered into the MLS within one day and published on Zillow, Trulia, and other MLS-fed platforms.

The partnership aims to ensure equitable and timely access to real estate information, creating a more open and competitive housing market. West USA Realty joins industry leaders like NextHome and eXp Realty in this initiative, which mandates that listings not meeting these criteria won't be published on Zillow or Trulia for the duration of the listing.

Zillow's latest analysis reveals a significant surge in cities with million-dollar starter homes, increasing from 85 cities five years ago to 233 today. The typical starter home nationwide remains at an attainable $192,514, but in these 233 cities, even entry-level homes cost $1 million or more.

California dominates with 113 such cities, followed by New York (32) and New Jersey (20). The phenomenon has spread to 25 states, with Minnesota and Rhode Island being recent additions. The New York City metro area leads with 48 cities having million-dollar starter homes, followed by San Francisco (43) and Los Angeles (34).

This trend reflects the pandemic housing boom's impact on affordability, causing many young households to postpone homeownership, with the median renter age now at 42 years.