zillow.com’s Loans on redfin.com

US real estate marketplace zillow.com was still busy making changes as 2009 drew to a close, ending the year by launching a distribution deal with online brokerage redfin.com.

The new partnership will allow redfin.com’s visitors to fill out a short loan request form at the bottom of its “financing your home” page. Visitors are then directed to zillow.com’s Mortgage Marketplace where they can complete a loan request form and receive custom quotes from zillow.com’s lenders.

zillow.com told inman.com the deal involves a revenue sharing agreement with redfin.com, but said the terms of this agreement have not been finalised.

In November, zillow.com changed the pricing model in its Mortgage Marketplace, introducing “market-based pricing” for customer-initiated contacts. As a result, lenders can submit unlimited loan quotes for free but have to pay a fee when borrowers email or call them regarding their quotes.

2009 was a big year for zillow.com, with the release of a record-breaking iPhone application along with numerous upgrades and partnerships.

The year ended with two major developments: a move to number two on the Hitwise list of US real estate websites and the inclusion of rental listings in its marketplace.

1. zillow.com Now Charging for Lender Leads

   zillow.com, the US based real estate marketplace, has changed the pricing model in its mortgage marketplace, introducing “market-based pricing” for customer-initiated contacts. ...

2. zillow.com Reports 2009 Records

   US real estate marketplace zillow.com has started 2010 with a bang, reporting a 57 percent increase in the number of unique visitors to the website year-on-year. zillow.com recently claimed to be bigger than realtor.com based on comScore figures, but later retracted that statement after comScore pointed out flaws in the comparison methods used. This time, zillow.com is quoting Omniture data to put its average number of unique users at 8.2 million per month and its page view numbers up 37 percent since 2008....

3. Strong Growth at trulia.com and zillow.com

   Two leading US property websites are reporting strong growth over 2009. Property search engine trulia.com and real estate marketplace zillow.com have both issued statements about record web traffic despite the troubling economic times....

4. redfin.com Updates and Expands

   Online real estate broker redfin.com has expanded its reach to Long Island and Westchester County in New York and California’s Central Valley, including Sacramento....

5. zillow.com Drops, redfin.com Jumps

   zillow.com chief operating officer Spencer Rascoff recently said he hopes to be able to confirm his website’s place at the top of the US market “within short order”. Looking at the latest Hitwise results, it seems Rascoff will have to wait at least another month. After moving to the number two spot in November’s Hitwise rankings, and changing the order of the top four US real estate websites for the first time in over a year, zillow.com is now back to third place on the Hitwise list for December. realestate.yahoo.com has reclaimed its number two position under realtor.com, and ziprealty.com still sits at number four....