U.S. real estate giant Zillow adds to its Canadian listings ahead of launch

Online U.S. real estate giant Zillow has struck a listings deal with a second Canadian company, but has not yet announced a launch date for posting those properties on Zillow.com.

The company, which has indicated before that it would be launching Canadian listings later this year, would only say that they “will be featured on Zillow.com soon.”
Right at Home Realty, a Toronto-based brokerage with about 1,800 listings, will provide a direct feed of its listings when Zillow launches in Canada, the company announced Thursday.

The two have been talking since about June, said Right at Home chair and CEO Ron Peddicord. That is when Century 21 Canada announced it had struck a similar agreement with Zillow to provide its 26,300 national listings to the site.

“We’re partnering with them for a Canadian launch. This isn’t about putting Canadian listings in the U.S.,” he said.

It is unclear whether the Canadian listings will include the sold prices that the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) is in the process of releasing to its members, because the rules and the format of the new Toronto listings, including sold and other sales history data, are still being worked out, he said.

Zillow’s announcement on Thursday said that the Canadian listings on its site will include a description of the property, photos and contact information for the listing agent, as well as a link to the brokerage.

Right at Home’s 4,100 realtors will benefit from the exposure on Zillow.com, which claims to receive more than 100 million visits from non-U.S. users each year, chiefly from Canada, Britain, Germany, Mexico and China.

By TESS KALINOWSKIReal Estate Reporter
Thu., Sept. 20, 2018 – The Star