People who get their thrills by shopping for houses—even when they’re not planning to buy one—need a source for their addiction. Nothing makes that easier than real-estate websites. There are many, but the big name is Zillow, a site that claims it had 9 billion visits in 2020. It turns out that only a fraction of those visitors really wanted to make a purchase.
In April, Omnis surveyed 1,446 Americans over the age of 18 who claimed they’d visited Zillow, and the results show that so-called “Zillow surfing” was a hit during the pandemic for providing digital escapism (and let’s face it, given the current market, it’ll likely remain so). Three-quarters of those surveyed are visiting Zillow and its ilk, but only 17% of them said they had any intention of buying homes. (Even in real life, a full 45% have taken an in-person house tour without any plans to buy.)
This isn’t a one-off thing—44% of survey respondents spend time on Zillow weekly, with another 12% saying it’s a daily habit. The average amount of time spent is 2 hours, and 17% spend even more time than that. Sixty percent of respondents like to Zillow-surf in bed as they go to sleep. But it’s keeping more than half up late as they get sucked down the rabbit hole of virtual tours and Z-Estimate prices.
Weirdly, 8% said they Zillow-surf in the car. There was no follow-up question as to whether this happened as they drove (bad) or had pulled over to the curb in front of a house with a for-sale sign in front (good). Naturally, a lot of people also do it at work (61%), and 23% admitted they’d been caught looking at realty listings by their manager.
Sixty-eight percent of survey respondents said they spent more time with Zillow because of the pandemic; the same number said it’s been therapeutic to do so. This therapy could also be destroying their relationships, though, as 28% say they have ignored a partner while on Zillow; 26% have turned down “intimacy or sex” in favor of Zillow.
One reason for all this Zillow time is that people want a dream home—51% said they think about it weekly or more. But people also want to spy on their friends and neighbors—and their bosses. The numbers on Zillow snooping are below.
Read the full report over at OmnisPanels.com.
