How Zillow is building a fairer housing future

April is Fair Housing Month and building a fairer housing market is a key part of our mission at Zillow. But even as we celebrate the legacy of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, it is important to recognize that many are still prevented from securing the housing stability and opportunity they deserve. 

In 2024, the typical Black household could only afford 18% of homes for sale, compared to 38% of homes for white households. That’s well down from before the pandemic, when Black households could afford 34% of homes, and white households could afford 61%. 

According to Zillow’s most recent Consumer Housing Trends Report, Hispanic households represent 18% of prospective buyers, but only 13% of successful purchasers. Data shows that Hispanic buyers face higher fees when purchasing a home, averaging $2,812 compared to the national average of $2,072. Moreover, mortgage denial rates are notably higher for Hispanic borrowers, with 18.8% being denied compared to only 10% of non-Hispanic whites.

Housing discrimination also exists in the rental marketplace — Black and Hispanic renters typically submit more applications and pay more in application fees than white renters. The typical white or AAPI renter submits two applications, while Black or Hispanic renters typically submit three. Furthermore, Black renters pay a median application fee of $65 and Hispanic renters pay $80, compared to $50 for white renters and $100 for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) renters. Security deposits also vary, with Black renters paying a median of $700, Hispanic renters $650, white renters $600 and AAPI renters $1,000.

At Zillow, we understand our responsibility to address these serious challenges and are looking ahead so that quickly evolving technologies like artificial intelligence are deployed thoughtfully and without exacerbating existing problems. We’re advocating across the country to lower barriers to entry, ensure transparency, build affordability and combat discrimination. We’re also taking action ourselves, leveraging our data, research and platform to make a difference.

Preventing digital redlining in home sales

A worrying trend is emerging in real estate: some brokers are increasingly encouraging sellers to list their homes on private, exclusive networks.

Homes listed privately make it harder for buyers to find their dream home at a time when finding a home is more challenging than ever — and can lead to a new form of redlining for those who lack access to these networks. Determining who can see a listing and who can’t through private listing networks, even for a limited amount of time, hides the opportunity from many hopeful buyers and potentially violates Fair Housing laws.

Sellers suffer, too. Those who list on private networks tend to experience lower average sales prices and have less to invest in their new home or other life events. In 2023 and 2024, home sellers who opted to sell off the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) typically lost out on nearly $5,000, selling their home for 1.5% less than those listed on the MLS. The impact was particularly severe in communities of color. Homes sold off the MLS in these areas typically sold for 3.2% less than MLS-listed homes — more than double the 1.2% loss in majority white neighborhoods. This equates to $9,850 lost per off-market listing in communities of color, compared to a loss of around $3,700 per home in majority white neighborhoods. 

Despite this, among sellers who worked with an agent to list their home, 74% of Hispanic sellers and 73% of Black sellers said their agent recommended listing on a PLN, compared to just 24% of white sellers.

If sellers choose to list privately, that’s their choice — but it should be an informed one. A transparent housing market helps everyone. It helps sellers see the greatest benefit and ensures buyers have access to the entire universe of homes for sale. That’s why we’re focused on legislation in multiple states to make sure agents give sellers all the information they need to choose how they sell their homes.

Leading with technology, the right way

Artificial intelligence has been central to Zillow since our founding — we know how much it can do when used properly to help make home a reality for many people. Our AI-powered Zestimate was the first to democratize information so people could better understand the value of a home they are trying to buy or sell. And we have leveraged AI consistently since then to give consumers better tools to navigate and understand the housing market as they make what is often one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives. However, we also understand what happens when AI isn’t used properly — perpetuating patterns of discrimination in renting, buying and financing a home.

That’s why we take our industry-leading role in AI so seriously. We prioritize fair housing in the design, evaluation and deployment of AI systems across Zillow, understanding the distinct influence that our models have on housing opportunities. We created an open-source Fair Housing Classifier to promote transparency not just within Zillow but for the entire industry. We’re advocating for bills that prevent algorithmic price-fixing for rents and working with policymakers to inform federal policies around AI.

Making it easier to rent

For renters, we’re focused on advocating for policies and building tools that lower upfront costs and make it easier to search for a home, apply and sign a lease. For example, we championed New York City’s FARE Act that will lower broker fees by 41.8% — saving renters thousands of dollars by ensuring that brokers are paid by whomever hired them. Black, Hispanic/Latine and Asian Pacific Islander renters pay on average 43% higher application fees than their white counterparts. So, we recently enabled portability of our rental application that allows all renters to pay a flat fee and share their rental application with landlords with listings both on and off Zillow.

We’re also fighting back against source-of-income discrimination by expanding our Housing Connector program, which connects people using vouchers and/or experiencing homelessness to available homes for rent.  

These products add to our existing suite of rental solutions: 

• Rent reporting allows renters who pay rent online through Zillow to opt in to have their on-time payments reported to Experian and Equifax in order to help build a positive credit history.
• Costs & Fees included on all rental listings ensure that renters can easily assess affordability and better compare listings. When property managers or landlords provide the information, renters can now see move-in costs, monthly recurring charges and other applicable fees directly within a listing.
• Single room listings bring more affordable rentals online by allowing individual rooms in units or homes to be listed on Zillow. Room listings display a number of details including a description of the room and shared living spaces, roommate details, information about the lease and more.
• Expanding our Universal Rental Application, which allows renters to apply to an unlimited number of participating rentals for 30 days for one flat fee. 
• Local legal protections feature, found on all property listings, helps users understand the non-discrimination laws in place for housing, employment and public accommodations based on sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as source of income.
• Housing choice voucher tool arms rental voucher holders with information about local laws that protect them; it also offers tips on finding and renting homes that fit their criteria. The tool appears on those home listings on the Zillow website where source-of-income laws are applicable.

We can’t do this work alone — and we don’t. We’re grateful to partner with incredible organizations to help ensure that everyone has access to homeownership and we’ll announce new partnerships in coming months. We will continue to lead the way in ensuring everyone has a fair shot at a home.