Zillow vs CoStar: Where the two Compete in North America

Last time, we returned to the Americas to compare where classifieds giants Mercado Libre and OLX, Prosus, Encuentra24, and FDV compete in Central America. When it comes to North America, the biggest two names are of course Zillow and CoStar Group. Things have been hotting up between the two recently with CoStar's CEO has made no secret about his desire to move in on Zillow's residential turf.

These are the portal brands under which they compete...

Zillow Group

Apart from the property portal that bears its name, this U.S.-based real estate giant has a number of big-name brands in its stable. 

HotPads

A real estate marketplace based out of San Francisco, HotPads was acquired by Zillow in 2012 for $16 million in cash.

StreetEasy

Zillow acquired StreetEasy, a New York-centric real estate portal, in August of 2013 for $50 million. The portal had a running battle with leading realtor group Douglas Elliman through much of 2020 and is facing a couple of new challengers to its big-apple dominance.

Trulia

Real estate marketplace focused on the importance of a neighborhood when it comes to house hunting, Trulia was acquired by Zillow in February of 2015 for $3.5 billion. With the addition of Trulia, Zillow launched the Zillow Group brand portfolio. 

Out East

Out East, the successor of East End’s real estate listings platform, Hamptons Real Estate Online (HREO), launched in February of 2018. It came a year after Zillow Group had acquired the website a year prior. 

CoStar Group

CoStar Group is a company focused on information, analytics, and marketing services when it comes to the commercial property industry in the United States. Since its inception, it has branched out from commercial real estate into residential with the help of key acquisitions.

Apartments.com

Classified Ventures, LLC sold Apartments.com to CoStar Group in April of 2014 for $585 million in cash. Joining the platform was rental brands RentalHomesPlus.com, and ApartmentHomeLiving.com.

Auction.com

One of the largest auction sites in the country, Auction.com is the parent company of Ten-X Commercial, which branched off as its own platform in 2016. 

Ten-X Commercial 

Originally Auction.com, Ten-X is a commercial real estate brand that was acquired by CoStar Group in May of 2020 for $190 million in cash. The deal was not without its controversy in the world of US commercial real estate with some brokers feeling that CoStar's acquisition put the company in competition with its agent customers.  

Homesnap

In November of 2020, CoStar Group bought Homesnap for $250 million in cash in a move to directly compete with Zillow. 

ForRent.com

In 2017, CoStar Group pledged to acquire ForRent.com for $350 million in cash and $35 million in CoStar Group stock.