What happened
Shares of Zillow Group (ZG 4.02%) (Z 3.29%) jumped 11.6% on Friday, following the real estate platform's strong second-quarter results.
So what
Zillow Group's revenue surged 28% year over year to $768 million, driven primarily by the growth of the company's home buying and selling business, Zillow Offers. Zillow saw increased demand for many of its online services, as more people chose to peruse real estate listings in the comfort and safety of their own homes during the coronavirus pandemic.
Zillow is benefiting as real estate shopping shifts online. Image source: Getty Images.
"I believe we are at the dawn of a Great Reshuffling, as COVID and work-from-home policies are inspiring people to rethink their homes and consider moving," CEO Rich Barton said in a press release. "In addition, real estate, like other industries, is experiencing an acceleration in technology adoption, as people move their shopping habits from offline to online."
Moreover, Zillow reported a smaller net loss than Wall Street was expecting at $84 million, or $0.38 per share. Analysts' estimates had called for a per-share loss of $0.68.
Now what
The U.S. housing market is experiencing an influx of demand during the COVID-19 crisis, as more people choose to leave cities and move to less densely populated suburbs. Fears of getting sick are also driving people to use online tools, an area in which Zillow dominates.
"Powerful tailwinds in both real estate and technology are rapidly converging, with Zillow at the nexus," Barton said.
