12/5/2023 0 Comments Nytimes real estate aad![]() ![]() The company facilitates millions of home purchases by connecting buyers and sellers and also sells Zillow-owned properties directly to consumers. Zillow is battling against a handful of other online platforms, mainly Opendoor and Redfin, in an arms race to become the Amazon of real estate e-commerce. But its business operations extend far beyond offering a voyeuristic tour of America's unstable housing market. The signature feature of the platform is its price-setting algorithm that estimates the value of millions of homes across the country. Most people know Zillow for its real estate listings, which have become eye candy for potential homebuyers and bingeworthy escapism for renters fantasizing about homeownership. Acquisitions are part of the company's growth strategy to achieve an economy of scale. The year before, Zillow had bought out New York real estate platform StreetEasy. In 2014, the FTC delayed the company's $2.5 billion deal to acquire Trulia, its closest competitor, but ultimately approved it. ![]() It's not the first time Zillow's aggressive acquisition strategy has drawn attention from regulators. They argue that ShowingTime, which supported 50 million showings in 2020, will further entrench Zillow's consumer information advantage and harm competitors as well as home sellers. Mike Lee, sent a letter to the FTC in August urging the agency to block the deal. The tides turned on Zillow after the Republican ranking members of the House and Senate antitrust subcommittees, Colorado Rep. But after the agency's summer crackdown on mergers and acquisitions as well as heightened scrutiny of Zillow from lawmakers, the FTC resurrected the review, citing antitrust concerns. Back in June, Zillow thought it was in the clear when the FTC closed its review period of the deal right before chair Lina Khan took over. This month, the Federal Trade Commission revived a probe into the real estate platform Zillow's $500 million acquisition of ShowingTime, one of the industry's leading online home showing services. FTC Re-Examines Zillow’s Acquisition of ShowingTime on Antitrust Grounds ![]() To read previous editions of The Corner, click here. In this issue, we discuss Zillow’s aggressive strategy to expand its reach in the real estate market - and how its recent acquisition is facing heightened scrutiny from the FTC. ![]()
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