Zillow Rentals Revenue Jumps 26% to $220 Million

America's favorite house browsing app is earning more from renters than ever. Zillow Group reported on November 4 that third quarter revenue climbed 7% to $724 million, while the residential real estate industry grew just 1% ^[1]. Rentals did the heavy lifting, with revenue up 26% to $220 million ^[1].

CEO Jeremy Wacksman said rentals now account for 30% of revenue, compared with 21% two years before, according to MarketBeat's call summary ^[2].

How the quarter broke down

• Multifamily revenue grew 35%, and the number of multifamily properties paying to list hit a record 81,000, a 17% annual gain ^[1][3].
• Mortgage revenue gained 32%, reaching $70 million, as purchase loan originations at Zillow Home Loans increased 55% to $2.0 billion ^[1].
• Residential revenue slid 4% to $419 million, which Zillow blamed on higher than expected mortgage rates ^[1].
• Zillow posted a $158 million net loss that includes a $165 million class action settlement tied to its old Zillow Offers business, while adjusted net income was $124 million ^[1].

But the outlook darkened. Mortgage rates climbed by close to 100 basis points between early July and early October, Wacksman said, taking them from roughly 6.5% territory to roughly 7.5% territory ^[2]. Zillow now projects a 10% to 15% drop in industry purchase loan volume for the final quarter, worse than the mid single digit dip it expected before, and it is planning for pressure to last into 2027 ^[2].

What it means for you

That rate jump is real money. By our math, a $300,000 30-year loan costs about $1,896 a month at 6.5% and about $2,098 at 7.5%, roughly $200 more every month. Freddie Mac's latest 30-year average is 7.18% ^[4]. Buyers priced out at those payments often keep renting, which helps explain why landlords are spending more to advertise units; Zillow Research puts the typical U.S. rent at $1,932, up 2.7% from a year earlier ^[4].

Zoom out

For all of 2026, Zillow is projecting roughly 30% growth in rentals, MarketBeat reported ^[2]. When a company built on home sales leans this hard on renters, it says a lot about where housing demand sits right now.