Zillow CEO Discusses The Rebounding Housing Market
| October 27, 2010 | Posted by Sandie under Real Estate |
Zillow has become a trusted name in the real estate world since its inception in 2005. Maria Patterson of RISMedia, an online real estate information site, interviewed Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff. Rascoff describes Zillow’s evolution as well as the evolving real estate market and the prospects of both for the future.
When asked how he would grade the real estate industry’s adaptation of technology within the past five years, Rascoff gives it an A-minus. “As an industry, we hold ourselves to high standards and are constantly self flagellating when we feel we’re not as forward thinking as we could be,” he explains. “The fact of the matter is, though, that many real estate brokerages and agents are using technology to advance their businesses very effectively.”
Rascoff goes on to discuss the complexities of the real estate industry and the multi-dimensionality of a real estate agent’s job. “In no industry other than real estate,” says Rascoff “is a professional asked to be a sole proprietor and the expert on topics as varied as marketing, law, finance, and of course, real estate. It’s daunting for an agent to remain an expert on all these topics and, therefore, nearly impossible to earn an “A-plus” in each one.”
Rascoff concludes the interview with his feelings about the future of the real estate market. “Home values have bottomed and bounced off the bottom in some parts of the country. In San Diego, for example, they’re already 5-10% off the bottom. We don’t expect a significant price appreciation from here, but we don’t expect home values to go further south in those parts of the country.”
Hopefully this positive outlook will hold true. Rascoff believes the above information “points to the way we must look at home values—which is at the neighborhood and regional level. It’s more nuanced than what the national media typically reports. There is definitely some good news for our industry which has been underreported. For example, we’ve clearly passed through the bottom in terms of transaction volume. Homes are selling again and the dark days of two to three years ago when there were no sides taking place are behind us.”
To see the full interview, click here.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by moti kahana, Rent2Buy. Rent2Buy said: Zillow CEO Discusses The Rebounding Housing Market http://tinyurl.com/26b2f6r [...]