Why Mortgage Rates Could Stay Low Forever

By Austin Smith and Mark Reeth – Aug 24, 2013 at 5:00PM

NASDAQ: ZG

Zillow Group

Market Cap

$10B

Today's Change

(-0.69%) -$0.30

Current Price

$42.88

Price as of April 24, 2024, 4:00 p.m. ET

Here's why these online real estate companies could be the competitive force that drives down interest rates for good.

In this video, Motley Fool analyst Austin Smith sits down with host Mark Reeth to discuss one surprising trend in real estate. Austin recently sat down with the CEO of LendingTree (TREE 0.27%), who said that when interest rates begin to rise, banks that can no longer fill their mortgage quotas on their own begin to turn to the online real estate mass aggregators, such as LendingTree, Bankrate (RATE) or Zillow (ZG -0.69%). Austin compares this situation to the airline industry and discusses what impact the shift online could have on this space in the future.

Austin Smith owns shares of Zillow. Fool contributor Mark Reeth has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of priceline.com and Zillow. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.