The move is a loss for homebuyers, who through Zillow had ready access to a property's climate risk scores from First Street.

This story first appeared on Real Estate News.

Home search leader Zillow has changed the way that it shares climate risk information — directing visitors to the website of data partner First Street rather than surfacing it on Zillow home detail pages.

“This update ensures consumers continue to have access to important information to help them consider factors such as insurance, repair costs and long-term homeownership planning, and reflects our long-standing commitment to empowering consumers with transparent information,” a Zillow spokesperson shared with Real Estate News over email when asked about the move.

What’s less clear is the role one of the nation’s largest MLSs played in the change.

First reported by The New York Times in late November, Zillow’s removal of climate risk data from its listings comes as industry stakeholders vigorously debate over the ownership of listing data and as home insurance prices continue to skyrocket.

Why Zillow made the change — for all its listings

The New York Times story highlighted complaints from real estate agents along with the California Regional Multiple Listing Service (CRMLS) and its CEO Art Carter about perceived discrepancies and inconsistencies in the climate risk data, and implied that Zillow’s change was done under pressure from CRMLS.

In a statement shared with Real Estate News, a Zillow spokesperson said that the change was made to comply with different MLS requirements but did not highlight CRMLS specifically. Zillow’s change in the way it displays climate risk data has been applied to all listings on the site, not just homes in California or those within CRMLS’ jurisdiction. 

“Zillow remains committed to providing consumers with information that helps them make informed real estate decisions. We updated our climate risk product experience to adhere to varying MLS requirements and maintain a consistent experience for all consumers,” the spokesperson said.

However, other leading portals are still showing climate data in home listings. “You can still find property level climate risk scores on Redfin,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather wrote in a social media post that linked to the New York Times story. 

CRMLS’s role and response

“There was no change in the rules,” a CRMLS spokesperson said over email when asked if there was a specific update in MLS standards and practices that would have led to Zillow’s move.  

So why now? If Zillow has implied that the change was made in order to remain in compliance with MLS practices, what exactly was CRMLS’s role in the change to home search site’s display of climate data? The dispute between Zillow and CRMLS could also be viewed as another example of the ongoing fight among major industry stakeholders over the control of listings and listing data. 

In October, CRMLS and Compass engaged in a feud over the MLS’s end user licensing agreement, which Compass CEO Robert Reffkin argued forced “over 100,000 agents to accept a 10-page agreement giving CRMLS the right to sell the agents’ content and contribution.” Carter said the MLS serves its users by managing the data they provide “as a set, not as a bunch of individual fragments” and the agreement reflects that.

The impact of skyrocketing insurance rates

As organized real estate and home search sites debate the accuracy of climate data and the merits of displaying it on property listings, one issue that isn’t being disputed is the rising cost of home insurance. Zillow’s move to point consumers off the site to explore climate risks comes at a time when more homeowners are seeing major increases in their insurance premiums and others are actually seeing the steep costs of insurance eat into their home value. 

While speaking at a November event for ResiClub, Cotality Chief Data and Analytics Officer John Rogers said the average annual change in homeowners insurance premiums was 14% for both 2023 and 2024 and is expected to be 10% in 2025. Rogers also forecasted an 8% rise in premiums for 2026 and in 2027. 

But California home owners and buyers are being hit particularly hard. According to the California Association of Realtors’ latest State of the Market annual report and survey, over a quarter of member agents signaled that their buyers were having difficulty obtaining insurance. And the number of buyers losing out on a home because of issues with home insurance has been increasing. Last year, over 14% of member agents reported that at least one sale fell through because buyers could not secure homeowners insurance while the number rose to over 16% in 2025.

This story originally appeared on Real Estate News.

Zillow continues to be an overachiever, at least with its financial performance. 

The home search giant’s revenue has consistently beat expectations for the past two years, and Q3 was no different: Revenue was $676 million for the third quarter, up 16% year-over-year and above the company’s previous guidance, driven by the strength of its rentals and mortgage divisions.

Rentals revenue was up 41% year-over-year to $174 million, while mortgage revenue increased 36% to $53 million, according to Zillow’s shareholder letter. The company’s main revenue stream, residential, rose 7% to $435 million.

Zillow also turned a profit, netting $10 million during the quarter and sustaining its run of profitability for a third consecutive quarter.

What Zillow had to say

While Zillow’s financials were strong, it was also mired in litigation during the quarter, something CEO Jeremy Wacksman touched on during the earnings call.

On lawsuits: Wacksman briefly addressed some of the company’s litigation issues, particularly the lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission over Zillow’s rental agreement with Redfin. 

The FTC alleges that Zillow and Redfin illegally conspired to eliminate competition in the rental listings market with a syndication agreement. Attorney generals from five states filed a similar lawsuit a day later.

Wacksman noted that they’ve had the agreement in place for about six months and have seen the benefits for both consumers and property managers.

“So to us it’s obviously pro-consumer and pro-property manager, which makes it pro-competitive,” Wacksman said. “We look forward to making that case as the process plays out.”

On the Compass-Anywhere merger: Investors asked what impact the deal might have if it leads to more private listings — a core part of Compass’ three-phased marketing strategy — which are largely prohibited on Zillow’s site after it adopted new listing standards (prompting a lawsuit from Compass).

Wacksman said he doesn’t foresee any big impact to Zillow’s business.

“We do see maybe more noise around hidden listings and the potential to push more hidden listings onto sellers and to buyers and to harm consumers,” Wacksman said, adding that much of the industry is on board with Zillow’s private listing ban.

Consumers “don’t want to put the internet back in the box, and we expect that behavior to continue, because agents are trying to do right by their sellers and sell their homes,” Wacksman added.

Key numbers

Revenue: $676 million, up 16% year-over-year. Residential increased 7% to $435 million; mortgage revenue was up 36% to $53 million; and rentals revenue climbed 41% to $174 million.

Cash and investments: $1.4 billion at the end of September, up from $1.2 billion at the end of June.

Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization): $165 million in Q3, up from $127 million a year earlier.

Net income/loss: A gain of $10 million in Q3, up from $2 million the previous quarter, an improvement over its $20 million loss a year ago.

Traffic and visits: Traffic across all Zillow Group websites and apps totaled 250 million average monthly unique users in Q3, up 7% year-over-year, the company said. Total visits were 2.5 billion in Q3, up 4% year-over-year. 

Q4 outlook: For the fourth quarter, Zillow estimates revenue will be in the $645 million to $655 million range, which would represent high single-digit year-over-year growth.

Notable moves

Zillow was busy dealing with litigation during the third quarter:

• The private listings lawsuit filed by Compass in June has resulted in an ongoing legal back-and-forth between the two parties.
• CoStar filed a copyright infringement case against Zillow in July over the alleged improper use of photos.
• The FTC case filed in September has the potential to affect Zillow’s business structure.
• Also in September, a class action lawsuit was filed alleging inflated costs related to Zillow’s flex referral program, and a former employee sued the company over alleged discrimination.

The company also had positive news to share during the quarter, noting in September that more than 50 brokerages had adopted Zillow Showcase. Newly named partners include The Agency, LPT Realty and Century 21 Masters in California.

“At The Agency, we’re always looking for ways to give our agents every advantage in showcasing their listings,” said Mauricio Umansky, CEO and founder of The Agency, adding that the partnership “allows us to maximize exposure, put homes in the best light and reach more potential buyers.”

In July, Zillow unveiled a new suite of products including Skytour, which allows home shoppers to get an interactive birds-eye view of a home and its surroundings, and is available exclusively to Showcase clients. 

The company also hired a new chief economist in the third quarter. Mischa Fisher, who most recently taught data science at Northwestern University, has experience analyzing housing, labor and consumer spending data. She replaces former chief economist Skylar Olsen.

Editor’s note: Story updated with details from the company’s earnings call.

This story originally appeared on Real Estate News.

Soon after Zillow announced it was the first real estate company to launch an app in ChatGPT, some in the industry responded with alarm.

The core concern was whether the integration violates licensing rules, but the conversations touched on broader issues: How should listing data be used and controlled? How should the industry be thinking about data standards in the context of emerging AI technologies?

‘At the forefront of generative AI adoption’

In its Oct. 6 announcement, Zillow said ChatGPT users could now add the Zillow app to the popular AI chatbot and explore listings using natural language search. The app — within ChatGPT — can then display property info with links back to the original listings on Zillow. 

The integration was designed to bring “simplicity to the home journey within ChatGPT,” said David Beitel, Zillow’s chief technology officer. The partnership, he added, “puts Zillow at the forefront of generative AI adoption.”

‘What is reasonable control’ of data?

Almost immediately, some people wondered whether Zillow was following the terms of its IDX data licensing agreements with multiple listing services.

“Zillow’s ChatGPT integration raises the question: what is reasonable control of the display of MLS data?” Leah Ingalsbe, executive vice president of MLS and technology at the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors, wrote on LinkedIn. 

“Granted, licensing agreements differ from one MLS to another, but this development offers plenty of food for thought on emerging technologies that were nonexistent when many of our terms of use were penned,” Ingalsbe wrote.

She did not respond to a request for further comment.

No ‘permission to share’

A Texas real estate agent was more definitive in his stance. Danny Frank, an agent at JLA Realty and a former chair of the Houston Association of Realtors, wrote a blog post expressing his concerns, and in an interview with Real Estate News, said he believes Zillow is in violation of IDX rules.

“The brokers give permission to HAR, and they do not have my permission to share that [listing data] with another third party site, unless everyone has equal access to that,” Frank said. “Right now, only Zillow has access to that [ChatGPT integration], and they’re using that to their benefit.” 

Frank has also filed a complaint with HAR, which told Real Estate News, “We are reviewing the matter and will take appropriate action if any issues are identified.”

Who’s displaying the listings?

The National Association of Realtors’ IDX policy requires all displays of IDX listings to “be under the actual and apparent control of the participant [broker].”

Victor Lund, founding partner and co-CEO of real estate consulting firm WAV Group, has asserted that Zillow is violating this requirement, because its license allows the display of MLS data on Zillow.com and its mobile apps, not on another domain.

Lund contends that, “From the consumer’s perspective, they’re using ChatGPT … and simply invoking Zillow as a tool inside that environment.”

While NAR has not taken a stance on the Zillow integration, the association released a statement on Oct. 21 advising MLSs to consider “whether MLS data is being transmitted to an unauthorized party, if the displaying Participant maintains ‘control’ over their display, and if the display fulfills the disclosure and display requirements outlined in local IDX rules” when assessing compliance.

NAR also clarified that “the display of MLS data on mobile apps is permitted under the existing IDX policy.”

Zillow outlines its compliance measures

The company went through “a painstaking process” to make sure it was following MLS rules, according to Errol Samuelson, Zillow’s chief industry development officer, during a recent Real Estate Insiders Unfiltered podcast.

They also worked with ChatGPT creator OpenAI to ensure IDX data would not be used to train the AI model. “It was a deep collaboration, and they’ve been very respectful of the different industry rules and data privacy and federal laws and so on,” said Josh Weisberg, SVP of AI at Zillow, during the podcast. 

Zillow addressed some of the other industry concerns in its FAQ.

Regarding third-party display of data, the FAQ explains that after a user enters a prompt within the app, ChatGPT relays it to Zillow, which “sends a response that is displayed in the Zillow App, but that data does not go to ChatGPT” — in other words, the chatbot itself is not displaying MLS data.

As for the “participant control” requirement, the FAQ says “the Zillow App was built by Zillow to be IDX-compliant and is operated by, and controlled by Zillow, just as on the Zillow website and mobile app.”

Real Estate News reached out to Zillow multiple times for further comment and Zillow declined to speak on the record.

Opening a back door to data?

Web browsers like Google display links to Zillow listings, but they don’t create a downloadable spreadsheet of listing data. Will Zillow’s ChatGPT integration provide such a list? Yes.

Real Estate News tested this out by asking the integrated app for listings in a certain market and price range, which it displayed. After prompting the app with a series of additional questions, the app said it could “pull all the data the widget actually loaded” — meaning the data from the Zillow integration or “connector” itself. 

Ultimately, it captured data for 100 listings in a downloadable file. (See the exact prompts and responses at the end of this story.)

Lund believes this could open the door for third parties to capture listing data “and [use] it for commercial purposes” or “track and monitor listings” using an external system.

MLSs taking a closer look — but not saying much

Real Estate News repeated listing searches for several markets and sent the ChatGPT-created spreadsheets to the relevant MLSs. Some declined to comment on the record (Bright MLS, California Regional MLS) or did not respond to requests for comment (Miami Realtors MLS, BeachesMLS, UtahRealEstate.com, GSBOR).

Others, including Stellar MLS, Georgia MLS and NTREIS, said they were “discussing internally” or “still investigating” whether the Zillow-ChatGPT integration complies with IDX policies. 

But a spokesperson for North Carolina’s Canopy MLS said “the Zillow app remains compliant with our IDX rules at this time,” though they declined to comment further. 

Lund said he was “not surprised” MLSs weren’t talking publicly about the integration. “They’re in the middle of trying to understand it,” he said. “This is all brand-new information.”

Another reason MLSs might be keeping quiet?

“We’re in a very litigious time in our industry, more than I’ve ever seen it,” said Russ Cofano, co-founder and principal of Alloy Advisors and a licensed attorney. 

“I think people are going to be very cautious about taking approaches that could result in litigation, and doing their due diligence before they try to make any decisions that could create problems for other companies, whether it’s Zillow or anybody else,” Cofano said.

Cofano wouldn’t share a personal opinion on compliance, but he noted that “there may be some unintended consequences from this type of integration, and those things should be addressed so that we don’t have easy ways for people to misuse MLS data.”

A path forward?

Still, Cofano said he hoped the new app would spur MLSs to reach out to Zillow — not just to gauge compliance, but to learn from their innovation.

“If really this industry is about serving consumers, then we should be applauding Zillow … for trying to do something that exposes authorized listing data to more people in the way that we all know is coming, which is AI search and discovery,” Cofano said.

The industry gets “wrapped around the axle on this ownership of data issue, and sometimes … forget what the objective here is, and that is not to own the data, but to facilitate buyers looking at sellers’ homes for sale and doing transactions.”

A peek inside the Zillow-ChatGPT app

Here’s what happened when we tried the Zillow-ChatGPT app for ourselves — and asked it for the data.

Using an individual, paid ChatGPT account on a web browser, Real Estate News added the Zillow app to the account and asked, “Zillow, please show me for-sale listings in Orlando, Florida, priced between $0 and $400K.” ChatGPT displayed a map with red, pinned listings and their prices. 

When asked, “Can you get the data used to display the widget I’m seeing? All of it?” ChatGPT replied, “I can pull all the data the widget actually loaded (that’s the first page of results—up to ~100 listings with full details like address, price, beds/baths, sqft, lot size, lat/long, home type/status, and the Zillow URL).”

ChatGPT then said it could export those 100 listings and said it would “need to run multiple paged fetches” in order to capture every matching property. It then offered to deliver those first 100 listings as CSV and JSON files. When told to “go ahead,” it delivered those downloadable files, providing data for those 100 listings. 

When asked, “Where did you get the data for these files?” the reply was “From the Zillow connector powering the embedded map/widget you used here. When you asked for Orlando, FL homes $0–$400k, I called the Zillow tool behind the scenes; it returned the first page of listing payloads (what the widget loaded to render those cards). I saved that exact response as the raw JSON and a flattened CSV.”