Hi All,

I was really excited about Zillow when it first came out because it
seemed to give pretty good estimates (I thought) and it should be
updated based on the latest sales records so it should track the market
the same way a stock ticker tracks a stock index. Now I'm not so sure.

This is just one example, and I plan to look at more, but I found a
house listed in the LA area (Placentia, CA) with a low list price of
$799,500 and a high list price of $849,500. (A range is often given
here for reasons I don't totally understand.)

Anyway, I wondered what Zillow would say, so I popped over to
Zillow.com and it's Zestimate of the house value is $904,431 with a
range of $804,944 - $1,003,918. So, basically, it is off by $100,000.
And the error bar is enormous. But that isn't the worst of it.

Zillow shows the prices of houses in Placentia (and all of Orange
County) shooting up in the last couple of months. But I bet that $800k
house sits on the market for a couple of months at that price. I have
been looking at houses lately and, to me, it appears that the prices
have dropped some. Perhaps quite a bit. I don't know why Zillow seems
so screwed up, but it is way, way off.

Darrell

In article om,
wrote:

[stuff deleted]

Zillow shows the prices of houses in Placentia (and all of Orange
County) shooting up in the last couple of months. But I bet that $800k
house sits on the market for a couple of months at that price. I have
been looking at houses lately and, to me, it appears that the prices
have dropped some. Perhaps quite a bit. I don't know why Zillow seems
so screwed up, but it is way, way off.

Darrell

Well here in Lake Forest (located in Orange County Calif) an $825K home
was sold in 3 days just around the block and in fact about backs up to
my lot due to a cul de sac...I know, I walk past that house every other
nite on my walk. Sales are slowing drastically but a $700K - $800K+
house is pretty much the average in most parts of Orange County and in
LA county as well, at least in the non-ghetto areas. The Zillion prices
seem accurate to me, accurate but not sensible, but that's not Zillion's
fault.
--
Chainyanker