Zillow

Zillow reported better-than-expected revenue across the business, outperforming the residential real estate industry for the eighth consecutive quarter, as we continue to execute on our growth strategy.  With an increasingly diversified and growing business, we are primed to capture a meaningful slice of the $30 billion accessible TAM in real estate — a slice that more closely reflects our reach in the category. And our results show we’re making great headway. #earnings #realestate #technology #zillow #ZEarnings

🛑 Hiring slowed further. Employment Increased Less Than Expected. #Recession fears are pulling Treasury yields to their lowest level since December. 📉The market is starting to price in the likelihood of a 50 bps rate cut in September - betting that rates could come down like an elevator not gradually, as previously anticipated. ➡️ The #unemployment rate moved up to 4.3% from 4.1%. Wage growth slowed to 3.6% year-over-year, down from 3.9% in June. On a monthly basis, wages increased 0.2%, lower than the 0.3% gain seen in June. #Employment growth was concentrated in just a handful of sectors: in Healthcare and social assistance, in construction, and in transportation and warehousing. The changes in #jobs growth for May and June were also revised down by 29,000. The labor market has shifted down to neutral to give the Federal Reserve Board enough confidence that the time for policy to shift to a more neutral stance has finally come. ➡️ What it means for #housing: Recession fears are driving down yields and sending mortgage rates to the lowest level of the year. But the dip may not last. Easing mortgage rates provide an excellent entry point for potential homebuyers who had been sidelined this spring. In Yahoo Finance …

It was truly an honor today to stand next National Fair Housing Alliance 's president Lisa Rice and other esteemed panelists and to testify before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, on how AI applications and innovations can empower consumers in their home search and make it easier for agents and lenders to help them get home. Zillow has been a leader in AI and technology since the launch of the #Zestimate and continues to invest in tools to help agents and loan officers spend more time with home buyers and less on mundane tasks. I highlighted Zillow’s proactive work to ensure #LLMs and other #GenAI products are not only compliant with #fairhousing laws but also help others in the industry build more equitable products through open sourcing. Finally, I reiterated Zillow’s belief that using existing laws, coupled with a principle-based approach to regulation, is the best way to ensure continued U.S.-based innovation in AI. Full hearing recording can be found here (https://lnkd.in/gdUKJVnT) and my full written testimony can be found here (https://lnkd.in/gd54JBcR)

Just in case you missed it... here's what I shared with Katie Kossev on the Inman Connect stage! ➡️ The opportunity: Most renters today also search in the for-sale market before settling for a rental. ➡️ The challenge: There’s a big disconnect between buyers and sellers but real estate agents can help bring sellers and buyers together by closing knowledge gaps. It starts with appreciating the magnitude of the affordability crisis... 🛑 This year, in over 200 U.S. cities, $1m is the price tag for the typical starter home -- it was just 84 such cities five years ago! 🤯 In order for a median income household to comfortably afford their monthly housing costs, they would need a $780,000 down payment in expensive LA or $500,000 in NY, $209,000 in Austin and $77,000 in Houston. ➡️ Technology can help: Zillow Home Loans, LLC BuyAbility shows buyers what they can afford given their credit score and live changes in #mortgage rates. Zillow has down payment assistance programs on every listing. Sellers and their agents should use technology to pin down the right list price. In addition, 3D home tours and virtual floor plans - tools like Zillow Showcase and Follow Up Boss help agents sell homes faster and deliver value more efficiently. "First-time homebuyers “are essentially renters,” who saw their #housing costs increase by about 33 percent during the pandemic while their wages lagged. He said about half of all renter households are cost-burdened by housing, meaning they’re spending 30 percent or more of their income on rent. “Some of them are spending 50 percent of their income or more on rent, which doesn’t leave much for anything else, let alone saving for a down payment, right?” Divounguy said. Contrast that with what happened to potential sellers, who thanks to rising home values are sitting on “near record home equity” and also saw their monthly payments decline in real terms during the pandemic, Divounguy noted. Excellent coverage by Inman's Matt Carter ! https://lnkd.in/gpj6zyKi