Ginsburg stated that treating builder business as a core pillar rather than a side channel reflects a broader industry shift. He believes a healthy balance of builders should be around 15% to 20% of the overall retail book of business.
During the fourth quarter of 2025, residential revenue was up 8% annually to $428 million, mortgage revenue rose 39% on a yearly basis to $57 million and the rentals sector recorded a 45% year-over-year increase in revenue. For the full year 2025, the residential sector generated $1.704 billion in revenue, up 7% annually, while the mortgage operation generated $199 million in revenue, up 37% compared to the year prior.
When Zillow launched 20 years ago, the home-buying process happened almost entirely offline. The company's digital listings, combined with its innovative "Zestimate"-an estimate of a home's value, based on the kind of data typically only available to real estate professionals-marked a turning point for the housing market. Zestimates weren't exact representations of value, but they put power back in the hands of prospective buyers (to sellers' and agents' chagrin). Their near-instant popularity was an early "do your research" internet moment.