Zillow posts strong Q1, touts listing transparency and app traffic

Zillow reported a strong start to 2025, exceeding its first-quarter 2025 outlook with $598 million in revenue, up 13% year over year.

The company also posted $153 million in adjusted EBITDA and achieved GAAP profitability — driven by cost management and margin expansion, leaders said.

During an earnings call on Wednesday, CEO Jeremy Wacksman said the company remains on track to meet its full-year goals, including revenue growth in the low- to mid-teens and continued profitability.

“It’s been another excellent quarter,” Wacksman said. “Despite all the macro noise around us, we’ve kept our focus on executing our strategy, managing costs and expanding EBITDA margins.”

Pushing for listing transparency

Zillow continued to position itself as a leader in real estate transparency and a staunch supporter of the controversial Clear Cooperation Policy.

Wacksman promoted newly implemented listing standards designed to give all consumers equal access to information.

At the center of these standards is the principle that if a listing is publicly marketed to any buyer, it must be placed on a multiple listing service (MLS) and be able to be published on Zillow, as well as other sites that receive internet data exchange (IDX) feeds.

“Zillow was founded on that very principle — giving people fair and equal access to information so they can make informed choices,” Wacksman said.

“We recently rolled out listing standards that encourage the entire industry to formally implement what most already believed and were practicing — a listing marketed publicly to some buyers should be marketed online to all buyers.”

eXp Realty recently announced that it has agreed to follow Zillow’s standards.

“(The standards) help agents do their job effectively,” Wacksman said. “They can see the inventory and cooperate with each other. We announced those standards because we see such a consumer good in buyer and seller empowerment — and education and availability of content.

“We want to make sure that remains in our market, so our consumers, the professionals who work with us, the professionals who work with our competitors, and everyone who works in our industry can continue to do their jobs effectively.”

Mortgages and BuyAbility

The company’s mortgage revenue rose 32% year over year to $41 million as more customers paired Zillow Home Loans with the company’s Premier Agent offering.

Zillow reported that 70% of homebuyers using its financing service are also working with a Premier Agent, up from 60% a year earlier.

“We are increasingly confident in our work to integrate Premier Agent with our Zillow Home Loans offering,” Wacksman said.

Additionally, more than 1.5 million customers have now enrolled in Zillow’s BuyAbility tool, which lets buyers assess affordability in real time. In March alone, more than 360,000 customers joined the program, according to Wacksman.

Rentals revenue hits all-time high

Zillow’s rental segment saw 33% year-over-year growth, reaching a record $129 million in Q1 2025.

The company now hosts more than 2 million active rental listings, including 60,000 multifamily properties as of early May, up from 40,000 a year ago.

“Building on our momentum from 2024, we are seeing impressive growth in property listings and renter traffic as we scale our two-sided marketplace,” Wacksman said.

Zillow credited much of the revenue acceleration to multifamily property managers upgrading to higher-tier advertising subscriptions. According to Wacksman, multifamily rental revenue growth of 47% in Q1 2025 outpaced property count growth.

Strategic partnerships also played a key role, including a recently launched multifamily listing integration with Redfin, an ongoing distribution deal with Realtor.com, and a new collaboration with AppFolio.

The company said these partnerships will expand Zillow’s reach with renters and deliver higher returns on investment to advertisers.

Showcase fuels for-sale business

In the category of for-sale homes, Zillow generated $458 million in revenue from January through March, up 8% year over year.

The company highlighted growing traction with its artificial intelligence-powered Showcase product, which provides 3D home tours, interactive floor plans and enhanced branding for agents.

“Agents who use (Showcase) are winning 30% more listings than similar agents who don’t,” Wacksman said. “And Showcase listings sell faster and for more money — typically netting a 2% higher sales price than similar non-Showcase listings on Zillow, a bonus of more than $9,000 on a home sold at the average home sales price.”

Showcase is currently featured on about 2% of all new for-sale listings, with plans to grow that share to between 5% and 10% in the intermediate term, Wacksman added.

Zillow is expanding the product through both direct agent sales and brokerage agreements, including a new deal with HomeServices of America.

Consumer engagement, enhanced markets

In the first quarter, the Zillow platform averaged 227 million monthly unique users, with 80% of traffic arriving directly or organically.

Wacksman said Zillow’s app engagement is four times higher than its closest competitor in real estate and is used by two-thirds of the entire relevant audience.

Zillow also reported growing traction in its “enhanced markets,” where it offers a fully integrated “Super App” experience.

In Q1 2025, 24% of its consumer connections occurred in enhanced markets, up from 21% in Q4 2024. The company expects that figure to surpass 35% by the end of this year.