Business Case Studies & Business Publications

Zillow Offers' "Volatile Error Rate"

Lichtendahl, Kenne...

Case

Zillow Offers' "Volatile Error Rate"

Lichtendahl, Kenneth C. Jr.; Boatright, Benjamin

QA-0944 | Published May 24, 2022 | 4 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

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In November 2021, Zillow announced that it was planning to shut down Zillow Offers, its iBuying program that leveraged its home value algorithm to quickly purchase homes for later resale. Zillow made the announcement after its market capitalization dropped from $48.35 billion in February 2021 to $16 billion in November. Poor program performance in 2021 left the company with roughly $500 million in losses due to an extensive inventory of overpaid homes and a 25% workforce reduction. This case offers an overview of iBuying, an algorithm-driven real estate purchase process; Zillow’s version of iBuying, Zillow Offers; and one possible reason for Zillow Offers’ demise: adverse selection. It is taught at Darden in the elective course “Data Visualization and Analytics.”