Zillow Group, Inc., is now buying homes in six additional markets, bringing the total to 15.
Starting June 9, homeowners in Atlanta, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Texas, San Diego and Sacramento, Calif., can sell their homes directly to Zillow once again in a convenient, seamless transaction through Zillow Offers. Zillow paused buying homes in the 24 markets where Zillow Offers operates on March 23 in response to housing market uncertainty and public health concerns.
“Our goal at Zillow is to help people navigate what can be a stressful and complex process, and with Zillow Offers, give them a way to skip over a lot of the hassles and challenges of selling a home today,” said Zillow President Jeremy Wacksman. “People still want—and need to—move. With new digital tools and health protocols, Zillow Offers can help people safely unlock the next stage of their lives with greater certainty, control and convenience.”
Recent Zillow data shows that real estate is resilient and steadily recovering from the disruption caused by COVID-19. While the housing market saw buying and selling slow significantly in March and early April during the early days of the pandemic and local stay-at-home orders, it has since begun to pick back up. New for-sale listings are up 19.3 percent month over month. Similarly, buyers have ramped up in the past few weeks, with newly pending sales up 24.5 percent over the past month. Traffic to for-sale listings on Zillow is up 51 percent from a year ago.
As part of the resumption of home-buying through Zillow Offers, Zillow launched a new initiative, called “Move Forward. Stay Safe.” With guidance from former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin as Zillow’s new Health Advisor, this industry-leading initiative provides guidelines to keep employees, customers and partners safe whether they are buying, selling or renting a home.
Selling through Zillow Offers gives homeowners a way to sell with limited in-person interactions, along with the option to close virtually on the date of their choosing. In a traditional sale, the typical home seller has to leave their home more than three times for showings or open houses.
Buyers who are interested in Zillow-owned homes have the option to use virtual tools to help them tour homes safely through the Zillow app or website. All Zillow-owned homes feature proprietary 3D Home tours, and buyers can also schedule a live virtual tour with an agent or an in-person showing. Zillow-owned homes follow a “Clean, Protect, Distance” protocol to ensure a safer environment for customers and partners during in-person tours.
For more information, please visit www.zillow.com.