Zillow has an automated formula that uses data from past sales and gives equal value to last week’s comp and last year’s, so it cannot react quickly to changes in the market especially if they are rapid (up or down). It can’t evaluate listing prices, condition, specific location or the million little things that can change the value of R/E. It can be a useful tool for certain things but not prices (ballpark of six months ago at best), agents and appraisers are needed for specific valuations. It’s easy to graph a stock price on the internet because there are no variables and sales of exact replicas occurr every five seconds. Even used car prices can come close using computer valuations but trying to do that with R/E will never be more than a novelty.
