Zillow Group’s ambitious tech-fueled bid to shake up how people buy and sell homes is coming to a surprising end.
The Seattle online real estate giant said today it will shut down Zillow Offers, its iBuying program that aims to digitize and accelerate how people sell their home.
Approximately 25%, or about 2,000 people, will be laid off as a result of Zillow Offers closing. The company will take a write-down of more than $500 million related to the shutdown.
The decision is a remarkable reversal from the company’s home sales operation that represented a fundamental shift away from Zillow’s core business when it began rolling out in 2018. Zillow was pinning its future on Zillow Offers, beyond its bread-and-butter money-maker as a home price estimate platform and lead generator for agents. It originally projected annual revenue of $20 billion by 2024 off 5,000 home sales per month from the home-flipping program, which was billed as a way for consumers to avoid the hassle, time commitment and uncertainty of a traditional sale. To read full blog: https://www.geekwire.com/2021/zillow-shutter-home-buying-business-lay-off-2k-employees-big-real-estate-bet-falters/
