On Wednesday, online real estate platform operator Zillow Group announced that it will acquire Chicago-based ShowingTime for $500 million.
Like the name suggests, ShowingTime creates software to manage real estate showings. It also provides housing market stats, real estate reports and interactive tools. This software is popular among MLSs, associations, brokers, agents and other real estate professionals, and is currently used by 370 MLSs — representing almost one million professionals.
Tech solutions across every industry are valuable right now, with the COVID-19 pandemic forcing people to interact virtually instead of in person. But tech solutions for residential real estate are especially valuable. That’s because, despite the economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19, residential real estate is booming across the country. Part of this has to do with record-low mortgage rates. Additionally, COVID-19 has forced people to spend a lot more time in their homes and prompted individuals with the means to do so to buy their own place or upgrade to get more space.
Zillow Group is in a position where its business can benefit from this increase in consumer demand, and acquiring ShowingTime will help the company take on a bigger share of the market. Zillow says that ShowingTime’s technology will help increase real estate tour volume and transactions for Zillow’s Premier Agents — many of which already use ShowingTime’s software.
“We have been impressed with ShowingTime’s ability to simplify a cumbersome but critical part of the home shopping experience by integrating with MLSs, agents and brokers, and giving buyers’ agents an easier way to schedule showings with listing agents,” Errol Samuelson, Zillow’s chief industry development officer, said in a statement. “ShowingTime will remain an open platform available to all industry participants, and we expect to grow ShowingTime’s engagement through all channels to ensure touring is easier for the industry and consumers.”
This deal is a definitive agreement for Zillow Group to acquire ShowingTime, and it’s expected to close in the near future. ShowingTime will maintain the same data policies and continue to operate as an open platform.
