Seattle-based Zillow lays off 300

Just ahead of reporting its third-quarter earnings, Seattle-based Zillow has laid off 300 workers.

In a statement Wednesday, the real estate company described the cuts as part of its “normal business process” and did not attribute them to the rapidly cooling housing market that has led to layoffs across the real estate industry. 

“As part of our normal business process, we continuously evaluate and responsibly manage our resources as we create digital solutions to make it easier for people to move,” Zillow spokesperson Chrissy Roebuck said in a statement.

The company “will shift those resources to key growth areas around our housing super-app,” Zillow’s term for its combination of various real estate services, Roebuck said.

Zillow declined to specify how many of the laid-off employees were based in Washington. The affected jobs spanned several departments, including home loans and closing services. The company said it has 300 open jobs and is not under a hiring freeze. Zillow reported about 5,800 employees in August.

“We’re still hiring in key technology-related roles across the company,” Roebuck said.

After peaking in early 2021 at more than $200, Zillow’s share price has steadily plummeted. In November, the company announced it would close its house-flipping division and laid off a quarter of its staff. Since the start of this year, the share price has dropped from nearly $62 to about $31 on Tuesday. The company is set to release its third-quarter earnings on Nov. 2.

In an earnings call in August, Zillow CEO Rich Barton acknowledged that “across the industry, we are seeing price growth meaningfully soften” but argued that “dreaming and shopping on Zillow, Trulia and StreetEasy doesn’t stop because of a poor housing macro outlook.”

Other companies have cited the softening housing market as the reason for cuts.

As interest rates climb and make it more difficult to afford a home, housing markets across the country have slowed down. In King County, home prices have dropped 12% from May to September. 

Zillow’s Seattle-based competitor Redfin laid off nearly 500 employees in June, and Compass, a brokerage based in New York with a significant Seattle presence, laid off 84 Washington employees along with others across the country in September.