Zestimates – Why They are Not Helpful
Why a Home Buyer should never use them
What is a Zestimate?
Zestimate
The Zestimate® home value is Zillow’s estimated market value for an individual home and is calculated for about 100 million homes nationwide. It is a starting point in determining a home’s value and is not an official appraisal. The Zestimates are automatically computed daily based on millions of public and user-submitted data points.
Zestimates® home valuation is Zillow’s estimated market value, computed using a proprietary formula. It is not an appraisal. It is a starting point in determining a home’s value. The Zestimate is calculated from public and user-submitted data, taking into account special features, location, and market conditions. We encourage buyers, sellers, and homeowners to supplement Zillow’s information by doing other research such as:
- Getting a comparative market analysis (CMA) from a real estate agent
- Getting an appraisal from a professional appraiser
- Visiting the house (whenever possible)
Zillow also produces a Zestimate forecast, which is Zillow’s prediction of a home’s Zestimate one year from now, based on current home and market information. Learn more about the Zestimate forecast.
*For more information on Zestimates directly from Zillow, Click HERE
From: the Los Angeles Times
By: Kenneth R. Harney
Date: February 2015
When “CBS This Morning” co-host Norah O’Donnell asked the chief executive of Zillow recently about the accuracy of the website’s automated property value estimates — known as Zestimates — she touched on one of the most sensitive perception gaps in American real estate.
Zillow is the most popular online real estate information site, with 73 million unique visitors in December. Along with active listings of properties for sale, it also provides information on houses that are not on the market. You can enter the address or general location in a database of millions of homes and probably pull up key information — square footage, lot size, number of bedrooms and baths, photos, taxes — plus a Zestimate.
Shoppers, Sellers and Home Buyers routinely quote Zestimates to realty agents — and to one another — as gauges of market value. If a house for sale has a Zestimate of $350,000, a buyer might challenge the sellers’ list price of $425,000. Or a seller might demand to know from potential listing brokers why they say a property should sell for just $595,000 when Zillow has it at $685,000.
Disparities like these are daily occurrences and, in the words of one realty agent who posted on the industry blog ActiveRain, they are “the bane of my existence.” Consumers often take Zestimates “as gospel,” said Tim Freund, an agent with Dilbeck Real Estate in Westlake Village. If either the buyer or the seller won’t budge off Zillow’s estimated value, he told me, “that will kill a deal.”
Back to the question posed by O’Donnell: Are Zestimates accurate? And if they’re off the mark, how far off? Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff answered that they’re “a good starting point” but that nationwide Zestimates have a “median error rate” of about 8%.
Whoa. That sounds high. On a $500,000 house, that would be a $40,000 disparity — a lot of money on the table — and could create problems. But here’s something Rascoff was not asked about: Localized median error rates on Zestimates sometimes far exceed the national median, which raises the odds that sellers and buyers will have conflicts over pricing. Though it’s not prominently featured on the website, at the bottom of Zillow’s home page in small type is the word “Zestimates.” This section provides helpful background information along with valuation error rates by state and county — some of which are stunners.
For example, in New York County — Manhattan — the median valuation error rate is 19.9%. In Brooklyn, it’s 12.9%. In Somerset County, Md., the rate is an astounding 42%. In some rural counties in California, error rates range as high as 26%. In San Francisco it’s 11.6%. With a median home value of $1,000,800 in San Francisco, according to Zillow estimates as of December, a median error rate at this level translates into a price disparity of $116,093.
Some real estate agents have done their own studies of accuracy levels of Zillow in their local markets.
Last July, Robert Earl, an agent with Choice Homes Team in the Charlottesville, Va., area, examined selling prices and Zestimates of all 21 homes sold that month in the nearby community of Lake Monticello. On 17 sales Zillow overestimated values, including two houses that sold for 61% below the Zestimate.
In Carlsbad, Calif., Jeff Dowler, an agent with Solutions Real Estate, did a similar analysis on sales in two ZIP Codes. He found that Zestimates came in below the selling price 70% of the time, with disparities ranging as high as $70,000. In 25% of the sales, Zestimates were higher than the contract price. In 95% of the cases, he said, “Zestimates were wrong. That does not inspire a lot of confidence, at least not for me.” In a second ZIP Code, Dowler found that 100% of Zestimates were inaccurate and that disparities were as large as $190,000.
So what do you do now that you’ve got the scoop on Zestimate accuracy? Most important, take Rascoff’s advice: Look at them as no more than starting points in pricing discussions with the real authorities on local real estate values — Experienced Agents and Appraisers.
Zestimates are hardly gospel — often far from it.
Call the Martin Real Estate Team of Lake Norman if you are interesting in Buying or Listing Your Home in the Cornelius, NC Real Estate area or other around Lake Norman…or even if you are looking for more information on Lake Norman Real Estate Values.
704-900-1619
20711 Bethel Church Road, Cornelius, NC 28031
Subdivision: Flagship
6 BR, 6.3 BA, 5540 sqft
Terri Mayhew | MLS # 4225782 | Active
14515 NC Hwy 73 Highway, Huntersville, NC 28078
Subdivision: Vista Lago
4 BR, 5.2 BA, 5586 sqft
Kathy Day | MLS # 4261389 | Active
19118 Betty Stough Road, Cornelius, NC 28031
Subdivision: Patricks Purchase
5 BR, 5.2 BA, 5576 sqft
Susie Wagner | MLS # 4232881 | Active
174 Hickory Hill Road, Mooresville, NC 28117
Subdivision: Gibbs Cove
4 BR, 4.1 BA, 3931 sqft
Alina Lorenzo | MLS # 4271846 | Active
110 Hunts Landing Drive, Mooresville, NC 28117
Subdivision: Hunts Landing
4 BR, 4.1 BA, 5003 sqft
Colleen Hunt | MLS # 4246595 | Active
22501 John Gamble Road, Cornelius, NC 28031
Subdivision: Country Club Shores
3 BR, 2.1 BA, 4201 sqft
Arlene Arciero | MLS # 4266915 | Active
9372 Island Point Road, Sherrills Ford, NC 28673
Subdivision: Lakepointe
4 BR, 3 BA, 2551 sqft
Beth Graichen | MLS # 4265031 | Active
8216 Malibu Pointe Lane, Denver, NC 28037
Subdivision: Gabriel Point
5 BR, 3.1 BA, 4316 sqft
Katherine Hansen | MLS # 4256470 | Active
18745 Bluff Point Road, Cornelius, NC 28031
5 BR, 4.1 BA, 3348 sqft
Julie Williams | MLS # 4264451 | Active
353 Whippoorwill Road, Mooresville, NC 28117
Subdivision: Hidden Cove
3 BR, 2 BA, 1884 sqft
Melissa Martin | MLS # 4275741 | Active
16219 Winnow Court, Cornelius, NC 28031
Subdivision: Sterling Pointe
5 BR, 3.1 BA, 3209 sqft
Meredyth Holdenrid | MLS # 4277050 | Active
168 Blue Ridge Trail, Mooresville, NC 28117
Subdivision: Woodleaf
4 BR, 4.1 BA, 4033 sqft
Jim Krautkremer | MLS # 4270259 | Active
4511 Morning Dove Court, Denver, NC 28037
Subdivision: Sailview
4 BR, 2.1 BA, 3307 sqft
Brigitte Perry | MLS # 4242342 | Active
704 Kenway Loop, Mooresville, NC 28117
Subdivision: Fernleaf
4 BR, 3 BA, 3715 sqft
Beth Graichen | MLS # 4274893 | Active
2518 Wellesbourne Lane, Sherrills Ford, NC 28673
Subdivision: Lakepointe North
4 BR, 3 BA, 2312 sqft
Lynn Stallings | MLS # 4161620 | Active
160 Fernbrook Drive, Mooresville, NC 28117
Subdivision: Fernbrook
3 BR, 2.1 BA, 3788 sqft
Cristin Dorninger | MLS # 4254545 | Active
833 Lemond Lane, Denver, NC 28037
Subdivision: Salem Springs
4 BR, 4.1 BA, 3201 sqft
Vicki Dalton | MLS # 4269159 | Active
8078 Blackwood Road, Denver, NC 28037
Subdivision: Nixon Estate
4 BR, 3.1 BA, 2656 sqft
David Henderson | MLS # 4214695 | Active
Price: $620,000
21907 Torrence Chapel Road, Cornelius, NC 28031
Subdivision: Torrence Chapel Estates
5 BR, 2.1 BA, 2825 sqft
Julie Williams | MLS # 4248222 | Active
Based on information submitted to the MLS GRID as of July 20, 2025, 6am. All data is obtained from various sources and may not have been verified by broker or MLS GRID. Supplied Open House Information is subject to change without notice. All information should be independently reviewed and verified for accuracy. Properties may or may not be listed by the office/agent presenting the information. Some IDX listings have been excluded from this website.
19329 Watermark Drive, Cornelius, NC 28031
Complex: Watermark
3 BR, 3.1 BA, 2949 sqft
Meredyth Holdenrid | MLS # 4269514 | Active
117 Lanyard Drive, Mooresville, NC 28117
Complex: Waterfront at Langtree
3 BR, 2.1 BA, 2223 sqft
Joni Gabriel | MLS # 4259128 | Active
18009 Kings Point Drive, Cornelius, NC 28031
Complex: Kings Point
2 BR, 2 BA, 1164 sqft
Jack Beckman | MLS # 4238845 | Active
329 Northwest Drive, Davidson, NC 28036
Complex: Edgewater
2 BR, 2 BA, 1013 sqft
Yuri Jounis Carvalho | MLS # 4240938 | Active
18867 Vineyard Point Lane, Cornelius, NC 28031
Complex: Dockside
2 BR, 2 BA, 837 sqft
Guillermo Torres | MLS # 4185266 | Active
9047 Rosalyn Glen Road, Cornelius, NC 28031
Complex: Edinburgh Square
3 BR, 2.1 BA, 2028 sqft
Julie Williams | MLS # 4254463 | Active
113 Burlingame Court, Mooresville, NC 28117
Complex: Morrison Plantation
3 BR, 2.1 BA, 2005 sqft
Lori MacLeod | MLS # 4228046 | Active
Price: $369,900
21120 Cold Spring Lane, Cornelius, NC 28031
Complex: Lake Crest
2 BR, 2 BA, 1176 sqft
Bobbie Little | MLS # 4276142 | Active
712 Mallard Head Lane, Mooresville, NC 28117
Complex: Mallard Head Condos
2 BR, 2 BA, 1204 sqft
Kym Gentle | MLS # 4267076 | Active
19329 Watermark Drive, Cornelius, NC 28031
Complex: Watermark
5 BR, 5.2 BA, 6252 sqft
Premier Sotheby's | MLS # 4221286 | Active
101 N Cove Key Lane, Mooresville, NC 28117
Complex: Cove Key
4 BR, 4.1 BA, 3693 sqft
Ivester Jackson | MLS # 4233761 | Active
633 Portside Drive, Davidson, NC 28036
Complex: Portside
3 BR, 2 BA, 1357 sqft
NorthGroup Real | MLS # 4275379 | Active
17925 Kings Point Drive, Cornelius, NC 28031
Complex: Biscayne
3 BR, 3 BA, 2118 sqft
Allen Tate Davidson | MLS # 4274412 | Active
18511 Harborside Drive, Cornelius, NC 28031
Complex: Harborside
3 BR, 2 BA, 1439 sqft
Charlotte Metro Real | MLS # 4274110 | Active
18631 Harborside Drive, Cornelius, NC 28031
Complex: Harborside
3 BR, 2 BA, 1417 sqft
Premier South | MLS # 4258715 | Active
17810 Half Moon Lane, Cornelius, NC 28031
Complex: Half Moon Bay
3 BR, 2 BA, 1407 sqft
EXP Realty LLC | MLS # 4248678 | Active
18589 Vineyard Point Lane, Cornelius, NC 28031
Complex: The Moorings
3 BR, 2 BA, 1252 sqft
Keller Williams Lake | MLS # 4235966 | Active
7822 Village Harbor Drive, Cornelius, NC 28031
Complex: Villages at Harborside
3 BR, 2 BA, 1471 sqft
Saige Real Estate | MLS # 4245678 | Active
637 Williamson Road, Mooresville, NC 28117
Complex: Harbor Point Village
3 BR, 2 BA, 1775 sqft
houzRE | MLS # 4241846 | Active
Based on information submitted to the MLS GRID as of July 20, 2025, 6am. All data is obtained from various sources and may not have been verified by broker or MLS GRID. Supplied Open House Information is subject to change without notice. All information should be independently reviewed and verified for accuracy. Properties may or may not be listed by the office/agent presenting the information. Some IDX listings have been excluded from this website.