You’re Not Alone: Survey Proves That Americans Are Completely and Embarrassingly Obsessed With Zillow

Meghan Overdeep
·2 min read

Real estate listing site Zillow.com surged in popularity amid the coronavirus pandemic. With 245 million monthly unique users in 2020 alone, homebound and stir-crazy Americans flocked to the site in record numbers.

That's no surprise to those of us who repeatedly find ourselves scrolling through million-dollar listings in the wee hours of the night. But can you blame us? Zillow offers an escape from monotony and a chance to dream about future possibilities—no matter how unlikely they may be.

MarketWatch calls browsing sites like Zillow or Realtor.com "the 21st Century equivalent of driving around the neighborhood to stop by open houses" for a peek inside your neighbors' homes.

"There are lots of people who like looking at houses for a hobby," Bill Gassett, a real-estate associate with RE/MAX Executive Realty, told MarketWatch. "Visiting open houses is definitely a hobby. With COVID, they are all on the computer instead."

Zillow Phone App
Zillow Phone App

SOPA Images/Getty Images

So, exactly how obsessed with Zillow are we?

The team at Surety First surveyed more than 1,000 Americans with questions exploring why and how often they browse Zillow, what everyday activities they forgo in favor of browsing Zillow, and how addicted they are to the site.

What they discovered is that 55% of people spend at least one to four hours browsing Zillow a day, and it's even gotten in the way of work and personal lives.

  • 55% of respondents admit to spending between one to four hours a day on the site.

  • 33% of people surveyed receive three to five Zillow alerts a day (on either desktop or mobile).

  • 58% of respondents have missed an important deadline because they were browsing Zillow.

  • 63% have looked up the value of a friend’s house

  • 53% have looked up the value of their boss's house.

  • 56% have canceled plans with a friend to browse the site instead.

  • 62% of respondents browse houses that are at least over $100,000 more than their current home.

  • 64% have contacted a listing agent for a home they can’t afford at least once.

It's all fun and games until you get fired for scrolling through Zillow! Put the phone down, y'all.