Tag Archives: Zillow

Days after getting the nod from the Federal Trade Commission, Zillow has finally completed its $2.5 billion acquisition of Trulia, the companies announced jointly Tuesday afternoon.

Zillow announced Friday afternoon that it expects to close the acquisition of San Francisco-based online real estate site Trulia by February 17, following the announcement of the conclusion of a Federal Trade Commission investigation.

Late last year, real estate firm Zillow reported that renters living in the United States paid a cumulative $441 billion in rents throughout 2014, a nearly 5 percent annual increase spurred by rising numbers of renters and climbing prices. Results from a more recent survey conducted by Zillow and Pulsenomics suggest that rent prices will continue to be a problem for the aspiring homeowner for years to come.

In a joint release, Citi announced it has entered into a digital marketing alliance with Zillow, giving the megabank a heightened presence on the online marketplace's website and its related sites, Zillow Mortgages and StreetEasy.

Based on Zillow's latest homeownership data, the company estimated in a report on Monday that 12.4 percent of applicants who applied for a conventional mortgage loan in 2013 were denied. While the denial rate for white applicants was slightly better than the national average at 10.4 percent and only a little worse for Asians at 13.3 percent, black and Hispanic applicants stood a much higher chance of being turned down.

In a live-streamed "fireside chat" with Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries, HUD Secretary Julian Castro reiterated that 2015 will be a "year of housing opportunity," reusing a phrase he coined in a National Press Club appearance earlier this month.

HUD Secretary Julian Castro will answer questions about a variety of housing topics in a fireside-chat style event on the morning after President Obama's State of the Union speech on Wednesday at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Castro is expected to discuss such topics as the Obama administration's most recent housing initiatives, responsible homeownership, making the decision to buy or rent, and resources available to first-time homebuyers.

Looking at the past year of growth, Zillow estimates U.S. homes will be worth a combined $27.5 trillion by the end of 2014, a 6.7 percent increase over 2013. Last year, the company valued the country's housing stock at roughly $25.7 trillion, an improvement of 7.9 percent from the year prior.

In a report released this week, property data company Zillow estimated that 8.7 million homeowners living in the nation's top housing markets were underwater on their mortgage as of the end of the third quarter, putting the country's negative equity rate at 16.9 percent. The U.S. underwater rate peaked at 31.4 percent in 2012's first quarter.

Looking at trends in incomes, home values, and rental prices in the third quarter, Zillow estimates that U.S. homeowners spend on average 15.3 percent of their income on monthly mortgage payments. For younger homebuyers, who typically make smaller down payments, that figure is only slightly higher: 17.4 percent.