Leading Brands in U.S. Real Estate: Q3 2023 Performance Overview

The U.S. real estate market experienced substantial digital engagement in Q3 2023, with leading brands such as Zillow, Realtor.com, and Redfin commanding significant online presences. Sensor Tower offers unparalleled insights into these brands through comprehensive data on website and app usage, advertising spend, and more.

Zillow: A Digital Real Estate Powerhouse

Zillow's extensive digital footprint is evident in its website, zillow.com, and the Zillow Real Estate & Rentals app, which lead the market.

• Audience Trends: Zillow's monthly deduplicated audience remained stable above 75M throughout Q3 2023. The website saw a decline in unique visits, from over 62M in July to about 56M in September. Web-only visitors consistently outnumbered app-only visitors.

• App Engagement: The app maintained a robust monthly active user base, peaking at around 11M in July before a slight dip to approximately 10M in September.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Zillow's monthly advertising expenditure fluctuated, peaking in July at nearly $4.7M. Facebook and Instagram were primary channels, with significant impressions. Notably, OTT (Over-the-top media service) saw a sharp decline in September.

Realtor.com: Consistent Engagement

Realtor.com, through its website, realtor.com, and the Realtor.com Real Estate & Rent app, continues to engage a large audience.

• Audience Trends: The website's unique visits were stable, hovering around 29M in July and decreasing to about 26M by September. The true monthly deduplicated audience remained above 30M.

• App Engagement: App usage was steady, with monthly active users slightly decreasing from 2.4M to 2.2M over the quarter.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Realtor.com saw a significant decline in monthly advertising expenditure from over $7M in May to about $1.4M in September. YouTube was a dominant channel, with high impressions in early Q3.

Redfin: Diverse Platform Usage

Redfin's digital strategy spans its website, redfin.com, and the Redfin: Buy, Sell & Rent Homes app.

• Audience Trends: The website's unique visits were stable, with a slight decline from 18M in July to 15M in September. The true monthly deduplicated audience consistently exceeded 18M.

• App Engagement: The app's monthly active user base remained around 3.5M in July before decreasing to about 3.2M in September.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Redfin's monthly advertising expenditure was modest, peaking at over $960K in May. YouTube was a key channel, providing substantial impressions.

Conclusion

The digital landscape for real estate in Q3 2023 underscores the importance of multi-platform engagement. Zillow, Realtor.com, and Redfin each demonstrated strengths across web and app platforms, supported by strategic advertising. Sensor Tower's comprehensive data offerings, including Web Insights, App Performance Insights, and Pathmatics, provide unmatched insights into these trends, enabling a deeper understanding of user behavior across the real estate sector. These insights offer unique advantages for decision-makers aiming to navigate this dynamic market effectively.