"20% of properties are off by 20% or more"

How Accurate Is the Zillow Zestimate? The Truth Behind the Numbers | The Close


...when it comes to the Zestimate, there’s actually a fair amount of information out there to help us understand generally what it is and how it’s calculated. We’re going to demystify the Zestimate...


How Accurate Is a Zestimate? If you ask Zillow, it’s very accurate. In fact, Zillow boasts a “nationwide median error rate” for on-market homes of 2.4%. However, for off-market homes, the error rate is more than three times that rate, coming in at 7.49%.


Some savvy agents (and clients) have noticed that the Zestimate often changes once a property is listed to become much closer to, if not exactly, the new listing price. This means an on-market Zestimate benefits from the local, on-the-ground expertise of real estate agents (the ones who are actually pricing the properties) and has a much better chance of being on-target.


Zestimate is generally pretty good at getting within 20% of the market price, gets it within 10% a little more than half the time, and only gets it within 5% a third of the time. Roughly 20% of properties are off by 20% or more. This is real money that clients might be leaving on the table...


By Lawrence Schoeffler April 13, 2026
Why Your Zillow Estimate is Wrong | What Your Home is Actually Worth | Pauly Campanaro Discover the 3 reasons online home value estimates fail: they can't account for condition (your $40K kitchen remodel), they lag behind the market (using 60-90 day old data), and they don't know your competition (what's hitting the market this week). Learn why pricing right matters: homes priced correctly sell 19 days faster and for 3.8% more ($15K+ on a $400K home). Excerpted from this video posted by Pauly Campanaro:
Screenshot of a Twitter post by Ryan Lundquist, discussing a property's Zestimate history and price changes.
September 15, 2023
@SacAppraiser | Ryan Lundquist Zestimate history. This property in Roseville listed at $349K, and the Zestimate matched the list price at $349K despite comps being above $600K. After 11 days the price went to $699K (sold $638K). Today's Zestimate shows no history of $349K. Maybe a brief Zestimate gets erased?
August 16, 2023
How Accurate Is My Zestimate Home Valuation? | The Jill Biggs Group Have you ever wondered just how accurate Zillow's Zestimate really is when it comes to estimating the value of your home? ๐Ÿ ๐Ÿ’ฐ In this video, we delve into the world of Zestimates and break down the factors that influence their accuracy. ๐Ÿ” What is a Zestimate? The Zestimate is Zillow's proprietary home valuation model that provides an estimate of a property's market value. By utilizing a mix of public records, Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data, and user-contributed information, Zillow's formula calculates an estimated value. The model also takes into consideration various factors such as property details, location, and current market trends. ๐Ÿ“Š How is a Zestimate Calculated? Discover the intricate details behind the algorithm that powers Zestimates. We'll explain the data sources used, including publicly available records and user-generated data, and how these inputs are processed to generate an estimate. Uncover the role of MLS data and how it contributes to refining the accuracy of the Zestimate...
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