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 +4.77%), 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 +0.00%) or Zillow (Z 0.42%). Austin compares this situation to the airline industry and discusses what impact the shift online could have on this space in the future.
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
$18B
Today's Change
(-0.42%) $0.31
Current Price
$74.27
Price as of October 24, 2025 at 4:00 PM ET
Here's why these online real estate companies could be the competitive force that drives down interest rates for good.
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