Comments on: Zanic! Zillow releases Q4 Home Value Report and San Francisco is up 3.6%?

By: hangemhi

hangemhi — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:22:33 +0000

or put another way…. “39% of the time we are no where near the real price”. Zillow is better than a sharp stick in the eye, but even being off by 5% doesn’t help that much IMO.

besides… that’s plus or minus 5% right? so it’s really a 10% range when they are doing well, a 20% range “on the majority” and lord knows what kind of range on the 39% that is probably your home.

By: William Warhurst

William Warhurst — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:32:14 +0000

I note this comment in the Los Angeles Times explained one of the many ways that Zillow estimates may be far off — inadequate consideration of lot size. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2008/04/the-foreclosure.html

By: BoomTime

BoomTime — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:54:47 +0000

Is there an actual link from SFGATE or ZILLOW that breaksdown price increases/decreases by ZIP CODE? That’s what The Chronicle seems to imply in its article.

By: james

james — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 23:23:57 +0000

what did you do sleepiguy? paint it bright purple?

By: Sleepiguy

Sleepiguy — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 23:03:21 +0000

I stopped paying attention to Zillow when my home’s Zillow value decreased randomly by $600k one week while my neighbor’s houses showed significant increases.

By: David G from Zillow.com

David G from Zillow.com — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 20:03:13 +0000

Thanks James!

By: james

james — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:14:57 +0000

hey david,

i’ve found that your estimates have been getting better of the years. you seem to be getting closer to city appraised values vs what the market might pay for something. i think that is far more valuable in the long run.

keep up the good work!

By: David G from Zillow.com

David G from Zillow.com — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 18:45:02 +0000

Hi, it’s David from Zillow,

Just to clarify; the photo shows the most popular home in the city (as measured by page views on Zillow), not the “average” home. Regardless, it’s good feedback that you were expecting to see an image of an average home – I’ll pass it on.

William Warhurst must have been looking at some pretty weird appraisals when he reached those conclusions. In reality, most (61%) of the Zestimate values in San Francisco are within 10% of sales price – and 35% are within 5%. You should absolutely consult a local expert when deciding on a list price or what to offer but for researching home values, Zillow’s a good starting point.

[Editor's note: Thanks for the clarification. I'll put this on the post. Glad to see you're reading. Now about a link on your blog. ]