How to Track Housing Market Trends Using Zillow Data

Zillow is useful for more than browsing listings. Its free data and local market pages show how prices, rents and inventory are moving, which helps when deciding when and where to buy or sell. This is general information, not financial advice.

1. Zillow's free research data

Zillow Research publishes free, downloadable data for the US by metro area, city and ZIP code, including:

• Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI): a typical home value over time.
• Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI): typical rents over time.
• Inventory, new listings and days on market.
• Sale-to-list ratios and price cuts.

Download the spreadsheets and chart your area over several years to see the trend rather than one month's noise.

2. The numbers worth tracking

• Inventory: rising inventory usually means more choice and less pressure on prices.
• Days on market: homes selling faster means a hotter market. See days on market explained.
• Price cuts: a growing share of listings with reductions points to a cooling market.
• Sale price vs list price: homes selling above asking means competition.
• Price per square foot: the fairest way to compare homes of different sizes in the same area.

3. Watch live listings too

Data releases lag by weeks. Saved searches and alerts show what's happening now in your target area. See setting up Zillow alerts.

Zillow Price/SqFt adds a price per square foot badge to every listing card on Zillow, colored by range (green under $150, blue to $350, orange to $600, red above), so you can scan a search for outliers. Track your area's typical figure over a few months and you'll notice when new listings come in high or low.

4. Check other sources

• Redfin's Data Center and Realtor.com research publish similar local data.
• The FHFA House Price Index and S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller indexes track prices over decades.
• Local agents know about off-market sales and neighborhood details the data misses.

Sources differ in method, so compare trends, not exact numbers. See Zillow vs Redfin vs Realtor.com data.

Keep a simple log

Once a month, note typical home value, inventory, days on market and the share of price cuts for your area. After six months, you'll have a clear picture of where the market is heading.

Know the limits

Averages hide differences between streets, home types and conditions. A condo and a house in the same ZIP code can move differently. See condos vs houses.