When Google and Zillow speak, people (try to) listen -- UPDATE

LAS VEGAS -- An over-capacity crowd gathered at the National Association of Realtors conference today to hear what Google's Justin McCarthy and Zillow's Richard Barton had to say about the future of real estate technology. As the session began, numerous would-be attendees still filled the long hall leading to the room (see photo), and throughout the course of the discussion they continued to filter in to fill the choice few empty seats and vacant spaces along the walls.

For those who did get in, they heard McCarthy say that Google is now working with property listings data feeds from about a dozen MLSs "and we'd like to work with about 880 if we could."

Barton also said he is open to discussions with MLSs to accept data feeds.

While some critics continue to hound Zillow about the inaccuracy of some Zestimates -- the name Zillow gives to its automated home-value estimates -- Barton said that Zestimates can be a gateway to some productive discussions about homes. "I think what Realtors should see when they see Zillow is opportunity. It's a real topic of conversation -- that gives you a real open door."

The company will continue, he said, to be "a bit controversial -- we will continue to do controversial things," adding that the goal is to "give homeowners what they want."

The median error for homes with Zestimates is 7.2 percent, Barton said, and "we're proud of that." In some cities, Zestimates are even more accurate. (Inman News erroneously reported earlier that the accuracy rate for Zestimates was 70.2 percent. Apologies for this error.) Zestimates are reportedly within 10 percent of the selling price 62 percent of the time.

An explanation of Zestimate accuracy is available at this link: http://www.zillow.com/howto/DataCoverageZestimateAccuracy.htm.

Whatever the accuracy, Zillow is attracting millions of eyeballs per month, and that does have value given the current market, he said. "It's not the time in the industry to be picky and choosy about how you get customers."

McCarthy remarked during the session that the real estate industry seems to be moving beyond the apprehension about online sites such as Google, and the notion that such sites represent the "lion over the hill" seems to have lost traction: "It's silly and it's a disservice to an industry that has traditionally prided itself on being very forward-thinking and entrepreneurial," he said.

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