Since a lot of people seem to be on the subject of Zillow and their recent Q4 Home Value Report, which we should point out is a “press release” (serving its purpose of creating buzz), we thought we’d provide one little snapshot that will certainly get shoved under the rug by most, San Francisco, CA one year change in value +3.6%:
“As a real estate attorney who obtains appraisals regularly, I have found that Zillow’s results are always significantly off of appraised value, occasionally far off,” said William Warhurst, a partner at Redwood City’s Hannig Law Firm. He thinks the site’s Zestimates are off by 10 to 15 percent.”
And what’s up with the $55 Million 2901 Broadway as our city’s representative picture of an “average” home for sale in San Francisco? Maybe they should change that.
[Update: Some clarification from David at Zillow. Glad to see they’re listening.
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.]
–Zillow maps ups and downs of housing prices [sfgate]
–Zillow’s report shows bad news for large areas but most of the peninsula continues strong [3 Oceans Real Estate]
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. ;-) ]
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!
Thanks James!
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.
what did you do sleepiguy? paint it bright purple?
;)
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.
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
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.