On Tuesday, iBuyer Zillow Offers resumed buying homes in six more markets, bringing the total number of re-opened markets to 15. The company paused its iBuying in 24 markets on March 23 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Beginning Tuesday, iBuying resumed in Atlanta; Dallas; San Antonio; Austin, Texas; San Diego and Sacramento, California.
“Our goal at Zillow is to help people navigate what can be a stressful and complex process, and with Zillow Offers, give them a way to skip over a lot of the hassles and challenges of selling a home today,” said Zillow President Jeremy Wacksman. “People still want – and need to – move. With new digital tools and health protocols, Zillow Offers can help people safely unlock the next stage of their lives with greater certainty, control and convenience.”
On May 27, Zillow Offers resumed iBuying in Portland, Oregon; Nashville; Denver; Fort Collins; and Colorado Springs, Colorado. On May 18, iBuying in Phoenix; Tucson, Arizona; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Charlotte, North Carolina resumed as well.
As Zillow re-enters the market during the pandemic, it said it is also launching a health-safety initiative to protect its customers, employees and partners.
Zillow said for-sale homes will undergo an additional cleaning regimen, and personal protective equipment, such as masks and gloves, will be recommended for all people entering the properties. Also, the number of in-person tours will be limited to allow for healthy distancing.
While Zillow Offers has resumed, there will be no open houses, the company said. Zillow said that prospective homebuyers can virtually walk through homes with its 3D home tours, request a virtual tour or consultation, and in some markets, can use self-tour technology to visit a home unassisted.
According to Zillow, the housing market is showing signs of steady recovery after the disruption made by COVID-19.
“While the housing market saw buying and selling slow significantly in March and early April during the early days of the pandemic and local stay-at-home orders, it has since begun to pick back up,” Zillow said in a statement. “New for-sale listings are up 19.3% month over month. Similarly, buyers have ramped up in the past few weeks, with newly pending sales up 24.5% over the past month. Traffic to for-sale listings on Zillow is up 51% from a year ago.”
