SEATTLE, June 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Zillow®
launched the most sophisticated and accurate Zestimate® home
valuation in history today, using real-time data and computer
vision to identify and value improvements to individual
homes.
The Zestimate revolutionized real estate when it launched in
2006, using facts from public records to estimate a home's value.
With today's update, it can now, in a sense, "see" in photographs
features that humans would instantly understand, such as curb
appeal and natural light. The new Zestimate uses neural networks
and computer vision to distinguish between high and low-end
finishes and to incorporate the value of features like updated
bathroom fixtures, fireplaces, and remodeled kitchens. The
Zestimate also now uses real-time data from for-sale homes,
including list price and how long a home has been on the
market.
Today's launch incorporates winning ideas from Zillow Prize®, a
two-year, $1 million data science
competition. For homes listed for sale, the error rate is now less
than 2%, meaning half of all Zestimates fall within 2% of the
home's eventual sale price. Sellers, listing agents, and homeowners
provide photos for the Zestimate to evaluate. Homeowners can claim
their home on Zillow to edit, add, or remove photos at any time in
just a few simple clicks.
While the Zestimate can't interpret home features by name, the
way a human would, the image recognition model can classify
patterns in the pixels of photographs and correlate them to home
value. For example, while the human eye sees tile or granite
countertops, the Zestimate identifies two different pixel
patterns.
"The new Zestimate was inspired by the way the human brain
interprets scenes, objects, and images," said Stan Humphries, Chief Analytics Officer and
creator of the Zestimate. "It's a big leap forward, because it
means the Zestimate can now understand not just a home's facts and
figures, but its quality and curb appeal. By training neural
networks using the millions of home photos on Zillow, the Zestimate
now values the features people are most proud of – like new granite
countertops, a remodeled bathroom, or a meticulously landscaped
backyard."
About the Zestimate
The Zestimate is a starting point in determining a home's value and
is not an official appraisal. Zillow calculates Zestimates for more
than 100 million homes nationwide. The company's 13 years of
experience estimating home values is an important aspect of Zillow
Offers®, Zillow's home-buying and selling program, and fulfilling
its mission to change the way people buy and sell homes. In
eligible Zillow Offers markets, Zillow buys a house, prepares it
for showings, and then quickly lists it for sale – all on the
consumer's timeline. The Zestimate is not impacted by a homeowner
asking for, accepting, or declining an offer from Zillow on their
home, and receiving an offer will not change the Zestimate.
Recently more than 3,800 data science teams from 91 countries
competed in the Zillow Prize competition to improve the accuracy of
the Zestimate. The ideas from the winning solution include
sophisticated machine learning techniques to identify and take into
account special home features and location details, such as number
of bathroom fixtures, commute times, and even a home's proximity to
a park or freeway.
To calculate the Zestimate, Zillow uses data from county and tax
assessor records, and direct feeds from hundreds of multiple
listing services and brokerages. Additionally, homeowners have the
ability to update facts about their home to ensure their Zestimate
has the most accurate, up-to-date information. More than 70 million
homes on Zillow have been updated by the community of users. The
Zestimate uses artificial intelligence and other advanced
technologies such as computer vision and a deep-learning-based
neural network to incorporate data from photographs into the
Zestimate. These multiple data sources, accumulated over the past
13 years, and the data underlying the Zestimate provide Zillow with
both a comprehensive representation of the U.S. housing stock and
an incredible data advantage.
Visit www.zillow.com/zestimate to learn more about how Zillow
calculates your Zestimate.
About Zillow
Zillow® is transforming how people buy, sell, rent and finance
homes by creating seamless real estate transactions for today's
on-demand consumer. Zillow operates the largest online real estate
and rental marketplace, attracting more than 181 million monthly
visitors because it is a trusted source for data and information
among both consumers and real estate professionals.
Zillow's data, technology and industry partnerships put Zillow
at nearly every major point of the home shopping experience,
helping consumers search for and get into their new home faster.
For buyers and sellers, Zillow Offers and Zillow Home Loans are
meeting consumer demand for an easy, low-hassle and predictable
real estate transaction. Zillow Premier Agent® instantly connects
buyers and sellers with its network of real estate professionals to
help guide them through home shopping process. For renters,
Zillow's innovations are streamlining the way people search, tour,
apply and pay rent for leased properties.
In addition to Zillow.com, Zillow operates the most popular
suite of mobile real estate apps, with more than two dozen apps
across all major platforms. Launched in 2006, Zillow is owned and
operated by Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z and ZG) and headquartered
in Seattle.
Zillow, Zillow Offers, Zillow Prize, Premier Agent, and
Zestimate are registered trademarks of Zillow, Inc.
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SOURCE Zillow