SEATTLE, Dec. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Zillow, the
leading real estate and home-related information marketplace, today
has launched an iOS® 10-centric update to its flagship app, now
featuring iMessage App Store support. This new iMessage® app allows
users to quickly access and share photos and information about a
home's key features through text messages with friends – all
without leaving the messaging screen.
According to the Zillow Group Report on Consumer Housing Trends,
home shopping is a shared activity, with 86 percent of people
co-shopping with a spouse or partner, and 13 percent with a friend
or other family member. Zillow® for iMessage is designed to fit
into the browsing behavior of today's shoppers, who are
increasingly searching for homes on their smartphone with the help
of their family and friends. In November alone, home shoppers
clicked to share homes via text over 1.68MM times in the Zillow iOS
app.
"Millennials, the largest segment of home shoppers today, bring
a deeply social approach to finding a new home unlike anything
we've seen with the other generations," said Jeremy Wacksman, Zillow chief marketing officer.
"They bring all the available tools into the process, including
their smartphones, social media and their personal network. This
new iMessage feature brings Zillow's visual search experience alive
in a text, giving home shoppers a faster, more delightful way
to share the homes they love with family and friends."
With the iMessage App, home shoppers on Zillow can:
- Immediately access and browse through Recently Viewed and Saved
Homes tabs quickly and easily while on the go
- Instantly share property photos of for sale and for rent homes,
home facts, sales history and Zestimate details with friends and
family
- Share, confer, and coordinate the home search process all
without leaving the text conversation
The new iMessage feature was created during Zillow's
November Hack and Innovation Week
events. Hack Week is a Zillow tradition, held three to four times
per year, when all Zillow employees are invited to dedicate their
time to dream up and innovate special projects of their choice.
Tapping into the talented minds within the company, this event has
seeded some of the most innovative products and enhancements on
mobile and desktop including an app designed for real estate agents
and a website feature that helps connect income-restricted renters
with property managers. Now, only a few weeks after the event, the
new iMessage App has gone live.
The Zillow app is available as a free download from the App
Store on iPhone®, iPad® devices or at www.AppStore.com. Once
downloaded, simply tap the app store logo within Messages, and turn
on the Zillow iMessage app. Users will be able to immediately share
their saved home searches instantly, anytime and anywhere.
(ZFIN)
Zillow
Zillow® is the leading real estate and rental marketplace
dedicated to empowering consumers with data, inspiration and
knowledge around the place they call home, and connecting them with
the best local professionals who can help. Zillow serves the full
lifecycle of owning and living in a home: buying, selling, renting,
financing, remodeling and more. In addition to Zillow.com®, Zillow
operates the most popular suite of mobile real estate apps, with
more than two dozen apps across all major platforms. Launched in
2006, Zillow is owned and operated by Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z and
ZG) and headquartered in Seattle.
Zillow and Zillow.com are registered trademarks of Zillow,
Inc.
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SOURCE Zillow