Zillow continues turning on the lights: Introducing Zillow Preview

For 20 years, Zillow has stood for one simple idea: real estate works better when information is open and accessible. 

That belief helped transform the housing market — and it’s why 235 million unique users rely on Zillow each month.

Today, we’re building on that foundation with Zillow Preview^SM.

Zillow Preview is a new way to bring pre-market listings to the broad market by making them publicly visible rather than limited to closed systems or hidden in private networks where public access is gated by the listing brokerage or buyers have to obligate themselves to an agent from a specific brokerage just to know the full breadth of inventory available. 

In a growing number of markets, the public cannot see pre-market homes, including those known as “coming soon” listings. Now, agents at participating brokerages can market these listings widely and publicly on Zillow and Trulia, where millions of buyers start their search, in addition to their own websites.

More visibility. For more people.

At a time when some real estate brokerages are choosing to limit consumer access to listings, Zillow is doing the opposite: sharing broadly on the largest, most trusted public online real estate app and website in the U.S. We believe gating listings for the benefit of any single brokerage hurts consumers and distorts the market. Access to housing shouldn’t depend on who you know or which brokerage you’re connected to.

“Home buyers shouldn’t be forced to hire an agent from a specific brokerage just to see the full breadth of what’s for sale,” said Zillow Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Wacksman. “Zillow Preview continues our commitment to turning on the lights in real estate, bringing pre-market listings out of the shadows and into the open by making them publicly visible to a broad audience instead of restricted to a limited network.”

Why Zillow Preview

Zillow Preview expands opportunity across the housing ecosystem without restricting access or fragmenting the marketplace.

• Buyers see more homes sooner, no matter who their agent is or whether they even have one yet, because they’re not limited to a brokerage’s private network. Expanded access is crucial amid today’s affordability challenges — when more listings are visible to more people, buyers have a better chance to compare options and compete on a level playing field.

• Sellers gain early exposure to the largest online audience of active home shoppers in the country, not just one brokerage’s clients. Expanding the pool of potential buyers protects homeowners’ equity in a competitive, affordability-constrained market and increases the likelihood that the right buyer sees their home at the right time.

• Agents can win listings by offering sellers something powerful and simple: early, public visibility on Zillow and Trulia. Zillow Preview listings receive enhanced placement in search results and saved-home alerts during the pre-market period, allowing buyers to discover, save and share upcoming listings and connect with the listing agent or pre-schedule tours before the home hits the active market. Agents and sellers can choose how certain listing details appear while the home is in Zillow Preview. Once the home is entered into the MLS, standard MLS and Zillow display practices apply. Zillow Preview also creates an opportunity for listing agents to share in the revenue Zillow earns when a buyer who connects through a Zillow Preview listing ultimately transacts with a Zillow Preferred agent.

• Brokerages can equip their agents with a powerful, consumer-friendly new value proposition while keeping listings visible to the entire marketplace, not limited to one company’s private network.

Launch partners

Zillow Preview will launch next month with participation from large-scale franchisors and brokerages including Keller Williams, REMAX, HomeServices of America, Side and United Real Estate, all of which align with Zillow's pro-transparency, pro-consumer principles.

These brokerages are sharing pre-market listings on Zillow to bring these homes into the open, make home shopping better for buyers, give sellers earlier exposure and help their agents compete on a fair playing field — all while following local MLS rules and keeping consumers empowered with broad visibility:

Keller Williams is an agent-centric, technology-driven real estate franchisor that supports a global network of independently owned and operated brokerages.

“As an independent company, we support efforts that make the real estate marketplace more transparent,” said Gary Keller, executive chairman and co-founder, Keller Williams. “Ensuring that consumers, our franchisees, and agents have meaningful choice will always guide our approach.”

REMAX is another leading global real estate franchisor, with an innovative, entrepreneurial culture affording its agents and franchisees the flexibility to operate their businesses with great independence.

“REMAX has long believed that transparency and the broadest distribution of listings gives buyers and sellers the best outcome,” says Erik Carlson, CEO of REMAX. “By partnering with Zillow Preview, we are furthering our philosophy that consumers come first and empowering agents to amplify pre-market listing exposure not only through the incredible global reach of remax.com but also through the country’s most visited real estate portal. This is exactly what consumers want and deserve as they navigate one of life’s biggest transactions.”

HomeServices of America, the family of businesses that also owns the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices franchise network, offers a variety of homeownership services.

“Transparency is what is best for our industry, and this partnership with Zillow creates an ideal mechanism to generate broader visibility and awareness of a listing to the marketplace,” said Chris Kelly, President & CEO of HomeServices of America. “The HomeServices of America family of real estate professionals is excited to support a product that further enhances the buyer and seller experience.”

Side is a brokerage platform that partners with top-performing real estate agents and teams to help them establish and grow their own branded brokerages.

"We believe in transparency and accessibility in real estate,” said Side CEO Guy Gal. “If a seller wants to pre-market, this is the best way to do that while still protecting buyers' access to available homes."

United Real Estate is a real estate services and franchise holding company that supports affiliated agents through a network of company-owned and partner offices.

“Zillow continues to press the point of fair competition for the benefit of the buying and selling public, brokers and agents,” said Dan Duffy, CEO of United Real Estate. “Bringing more inventory to market faster will have a positive impact on the U.S. residential housing market and a time where access to listing inventory is needed. We are excited about Zillow’s latest innovative offering through Zillow Preview and are equally as thrilled to offer it to our agents and their clients.”

Open access strengthens competition. Restricting access weakens it. Zillow Preview is designed to keep the market competitive, transparent and consumer-first — principles Zillow has championed for more than two decades. 

As we launch this new offering next month, we look forward to working with additional pro-consumer listing brokerages across the country to bring Zillow Preview to their agents, sellers and buyers. 

Why this matters now

Many Americans are struggling to afford a home as we face a severe housing shortage. Hiding listings makes the shortage feel even worse: Buyers see fewer homes. Sellers reach fewer potential buyers. The market becomes more confusing and less competitive, especially for first-time buyers and those without insider connections.

Increasing access — not restricting it — is critical in this environment.

Making pre-market listings broadly available, rather than walling them off in a private network, gives more people a fair shot. It expands a seller’s pool of potential buyers and helps agents generate informed pricing and marketing strategies based on real demand, not limited exposure.

With Zillow Preview, agents can help their clients navigate the market with more clarity and confidence, and brokers can compete on expertise and service rather than gatekeeping.

Our commitment

Zillow is the front door to the housing market, with more than 70% of buyers and sellers using Zillow apps and sites somewhere along their journey. 80% of our traffic comes directly to us — a reflection of the trust consumers place in our platform.

Our business is built on transparency, broad access and a consistently excellent consumer experience. Zillow Preview reinforces that commitment by expanding visibility earlier in the listing process while maintaining full transparency once a home goes active.

Housing works best when information is shared widely, competition is fair and consumers don’t need insider relationships to get access or participate. 

That’s the marketplace we’ve been building for 20 years — and now, by showing consumers listings previously kept in the dark, Zillow Preview is turning on the lights even brighter.

Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, statements regarding our business strategies, the execution of those strategies, our competitive positioning and market opportunity, and the impact of our proposed product changes on our business and industry. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions, which are subject to change. Actual outcomes may differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements due to technological and regulatory developments, changes in housing market or competitive conditions, and other factors described in Zillow Group’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to update the forward-looking statements in this communication except as required by law.