What happened

Shares of Zillow Group, Inc. (Z -0.46%) (ZG -0.69%) were moving higher last month on reports that the housing market would continue to grow as the online real estate listings specialist finished March up 13% according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. A strong endorsement from Barron's of the housing market and housing-related stocks seemed to pave the way to Zillow's gains over the month.

As you can see from the chart below, the stock posted impressive gains through the first half of the month after the Barron's report came out, but gave some of them back in the remaining weeks.

Z Chart

Z data by YCharts

So what

Zillow's best day of the month came on March 5 when the stock gained 4.5% on high volume after a Barron's article argued that the housing recovery was far from over, even as interest rates are rising and the new cap on the mortgage-interest rate deduction threatens to cool off sales of higher-priced homes.

A real estate agent showing a house to a couple.

Image source: Getty Images.

While the column did not specifically endorse Zillow, it did argue that homebuilder stocks were undervalued, and Zillow's performance is closely correlated with the homebuying market as the company's business is driven by advertising from real estate agents and additional services for realtors. If the housing market slows or declines, Zillow's revenue should subsequently take a hit as well because realtors will have less money to spend on such services.

Now what 

Zillow continues to put up strong quarterly revenue growth with a 24% increase in sales in the most recent quarter as does rival Redfin -- both companies seem to be disrupting the real estate market. Zillow also owns a number of other popular brands including Trulia, Streeteasy, and Naked Apartments, giving it a strong position in online real estate listings. It may seem surprising for the stock to get a boost on just an endorsement of the housing market, but the strength of the housing sector will be the most important factor in the company's performance. Considering that, the stock should continue to do well if the housing market keeps growing.