Zillow vs Redfin House Pricing Data

[Vera Shokina]

What do you find as the best data source for house prices?  I notice significant difference (up to 20%) for the same property on Zillow, Redfin and Homes.com.  Zillow consistently shows prices much higher than Redfin, for example.  Which site is the most accurate to estimate the fair value of the house based on your experience? 

[Rick Albert]

Neither, you need to dig into each sale yourself. The problem is these are automated values that don't factor things in like views, condition, or even if one block of homes sells for more or less than another. 

[Jacopo Iasiello]

Yes, you need to dig and study it by yourself.

[Chris Seveney]

Quote from @Vera Shokina:

What do you find as the best data source for house prices?  I notice significant difference (up to 20%) for the same property on Zillow, Redfin and Homes.com.  Zillow consistently shows prices much higher than Redfin, for example.  Which site is the most accurate to estimate the fair value of the house based on your experience? 

 I would never rely on either. Look for sold comps in that area and condition of those properties to determine best value. I have a house in my neighorhood that is off by around $1M+ from both these sites. 

[Vera Shokina]

 Interesting...  I thought this is exactly what these sites are for -  look at the sold comps, factor in different parameters and come to the best value.  I will probably continue to use Redfin (as the most conservative of three) for initial analysis. I need to use something as a starting point even if further due dil will lead to a different price.

Quote from @Chris Seveney:

Quote from @Vera Shokina:

What do you find as the best data source for house prices?  I notice significant difference (up to 20%) for the same property on Zillow, Redfin and Homes.com.  Zillow consistently shows prices much higher than Redfin, for example.  Which site is the most accurate to estimate the fair value of the house based on your experience?

I would never rely on either. Look for sold comps in that area and condition of those properties to determine best value. I have a house in my neighorhood that is off by around $1M+ from both these sites.

[Vera Shokina]

Quote from @Rick Albert:

Neither, you need to dig into each sale yourself. The problem is these are automated values that don't factor things in like views, condition, or even if one block of homes sells for more or less than another. 

Thank you Rick and it makes sense.  I was curious if any of these companies have a better algorithm factoring these nuances.  The algorithms are different but consistent. Zillow always gives higher price than Redfin, irrespective of the neighborliness and condition of the house.

[Carlos Ptriawan]

Quote from @Vera Shokina:

What do you find as the best data source for house prices?  I notice significant difference (up to 20%) for the same property on Zillow, Redfin and Homes.com.  Zillow consistently shows prices much higher than Redfin, for example.  Which site is the most accurate to estimate the fair value of the house based on your experience? 

 they are both accurate. Zillow use the listing price, however. Redfin has more data related to neighbors. They are still within one standard deviation. 
For Zillow and Redfin what really matter is the price chart trend of the neighbourhood and not the price itself.

[Rick Albert]

Quote from @Vera Shokina:

Quote from @Rick Albert:

Neither, you need to dig into each sale yourself. The problem is these are automated values that don't factor things in like views, condition, or even if one block of homes sells for more or less than another. 

Thank you Rick and it makes sense.  I was curious if any of these companies have a better algorithm factoring these nuances.  The algorithms are different but consistent. Zillow always gives higher price than Redfin, irrespective of the neighborliness and condition of the house.

It can't for a couple of reasons. The first is they can only evaluate a property based on information provided. For example, Zillow does a horrible evaluation of my home because it doesn't factor in the fact that I spent over $200K in an addition, full remodel, and a garage conversion into an ADU. 

The second is the emotional factor. For example two properties could be in the same zip code, but one street is horrible and the other sells for a premium. Zillow would likely just do a radius and call it a day. Another is emotional factors such as views. Two properties can have views. One could be a dead on city view and the other partial. That can change the value but the AVM models can't factor that in.

[Edgar U.]

If you are in just one market, I highly advice getting access to the MLS for better data for house prices. If you are in multiple markets liked myself. I use all of the data provided (i.e) Redfin, Zillow, Realtor, Xome, etc.

I do believe Redfin/Xomee you could export the data and kinda compare contrast and Realtor you could do same just maybe in a zip code, county wide data. 

[Carlos Ptriawan]

Quote from @Vera Shokina:

Quote from @Rick Albert:

Neither, you need to dig into each sale yourself. The problem is these are automated values that don't factor things in like views, condition, or even if one block of homes sells for more or less than another. 

Thank you Rick and it makes sense.  I was curious if any of these companies have a better algorithm factoring these nuances.  The algorithms are different but consistent. Zillow always gives higher price than Redfin, irrespective of the neighborliness and condition of the house.

 What you want is you need to find the "range". Says redfin says 800k-1 mil. Zillow says 950k. Your neighbor A is 1.05M. Yoyr neighbour B is 1.01M. They are all still within the same standard deviation. Market is priced based on auction style, so a lousy house can be sold higher than a good home sometimes depending on seasonality and availability of buyers. 

If your neighborhood area has DOM less than 10 days , many times the Zillow is accurate compare to area with DOM>30.