At a time when affordability challenges define the housing conversation, Zillow is investing in innovation aimed at making a real difference. Our products launched this year support a core belief: technology should make finding and affording a home easier and more fair and transparent.
We’re building tools that simplify renting, buying, selling and financing a home while helping people stay informed and in control.Here’s how we’re doing it and where we believe the future of real estate is headed.
Making renting more affordable and transparent
Total price display
- What is it: Zillow now displays a “Total price”, which means the rental cost shown includes the base monthly rent plus any required monthly fees. When a housing provider supplies complete fee data and turns on the feature, renters will see an updated all-in price marked with a badge and checkmark across the Zillow shopping experience.
- Why it matters: Fewer surprises, easier comparisons and greater confidence that a home truly fits a renter’s budget.
Portable applications
- What is it: Zillow’s new Portable Application lets renters apply once and use that same verified application, which includes credit check, background and references, across multiple rental listings.
- Why it matters: Because we value consumers’ time and money, renters now save $30–$75 per application, avoid redundant paperwork and can focus on finding the right home, not paying for the process.
CreditClimb
- What it is: A first-of-its-kind integration that lets renters automatically report on-time rent payments to credit bureaus directly through their Zillow account, via our partnership with Esusu.
- Why it matters: For millions of renters with little or no credit history, this feature helps turn paying rent into a credit-building opportunity, creating a bridge toward homeownership and unlocking access to lower mortgage rates.
Helping buyers shop smarter and stay within budget
BuyAbility
- What it is: BuyAbility, powered by Zillow Home Loans, gives buyers a real-time, personalized view of what they can afford — showing both their target monthly payment and their maximum buying power side by side. Buyers simply enter a few financial details — including their income, credit score, down payment and ideal monthly payment — and are instantly able to see homes that fit their budget. As they browse Zillow, listings are clearly labeled to show whether each home falls within or just under their personalized range. And the homes you see change in real time as mortgage rates change.
- Why it matters: Most buyers struggle to know what they can truly afford. The BuyAbility tool simplifies that process, helping people search smarter, stay within budget and make confident decisions. By connecting live mortgage rates and personalized estimates, it gives buyers clarity and control from the very start of their home search.
Zillow Home Loans Verified Pre-Approval
- What it is: Zillow Home Loans Verified Pre-Approval simplifies one of the most complex steps in the home-buying journey — understanding what you can afford. Through a guided digital experience, buyers can securely upload and verify income and asset information in minutes, with no impact to their credit score and no commitment.
- Why it matters: Financing is often one of the most stressful parts of buying a home. Verified Pre-Approval replaces friction with visibility, giving buyers and their agents a clear, data-backed view of what’s truly affordable. It helps buyers move faster, make stronger offers and feel more confident from the very start of their homeownership journey.
Unlocking easier ways to search and explore homes
Zillow x ChatGPT
- What it is: Zillow became the first real estate app available in ChatGPT, giving people a simple, conversational way to start their home journey. ChatGPT users can ask a variety of housing questions like “Show me homes under $600,000 near Denver” or “What’s renting in Seattle right now?” and instantly see real Zillow listings with photos, maps and pricing — all powered by Zillow’s trusted data and technology.
- Why it matters: As people increasingly turn to AI to simplify everyday decisions, Zillow is bringing that same ease to the home journey. The ChatGPT experience makes exploring homes feel natural and intuitive, expanding access to real listings and trusted housing insights through one of the world’s most widely used AI platforms.
Virtual Staging AI
- What it is: Virtual Staging is a new AI-powered feature built into Zillow Showcase listings that helps home shoppers picture a home’s potential. With just a tap, buyers can restyle select rooms, seeing spaces furnished and brought to life in seconds.
- Why it matters: Home shoppers stay in control of how they view a listing. Virtual Staging lets them toggle between the real photos and AI-restyled images, helping them imagine possibilities without losing sight of reality. It’s a transparent, interactive way to explore homes and see their potential.
SkyTour
- What it is: SkyTour is a new feature available on select Zillow Showcase listings that gives home shoppers an interactive, drone-like experience to explore a home’s exterior. With simple, intuitive controls, shoppers can navigate around a property from different heights and angles, as if they’re piloting a drone, to get a true sense of its layout, lot and surroundings.
- Why it matters: SkyTour transforms online home shopping by putting buyers in control of how they explore. It offers a clearer, more dynamic view than standard photos or videos.
Helping every home journey feel connected
Messaging on Zillow
- What it is: Zillow’s new messaging feature lets home shoppers chat, share homes and stay organized — all within the Zillow app. Instead of juggling texts, screenshots and separate group chats, home shoppers can keep every conversation, listing and decision in one thread, making collaboration simple and seamless.
- Why it matters: Home shopping is rarely a solo effort, but coordinating across multiple apps can be chaotic. Messaging brings that teamwork into Zillow, putting buyers in control of how they search and decide together. It’s an easier, more connected way for couples, friends and family to stay on the same page and one more step toward making the home-buying journey clearer and more seamless.
AI Assist
- What it is: AI Assist, powered by EliseAI, is Zillow’s new conversational leasing assistant that helps renters get the information they need anytime, anywhere. When a renter messages about a participating listing, the assistant replies instantly with details like availability, pet policies, parking and more, and can even schedule a tour on demand.
- Why it matters: Finding a rental should be simple, not stressful. AI Assist puts renters in control of the process by giving them quick, accurate answers and real-time tour scheduling — without waiting for a callback. It keeps conversations organized in one place, helping renters move faster and more confidently in competitive markets while giving property managers a more efficient way to stay connected.
The bigger picture
Innovation at Zillow goes beyond the tools we build to help people find and get home. It extends to partnerships, policy advocacy and a commitment to transparency, all centered around the consumer.
From supporting broker fee reform to helping renters build credit and giving buyers realistic pathways to ownership, Zillow’s innovations are about more than technology. They’re about opportunity and shaping a more open, accessible and fair housing market for everyone.