Redfin Launches Tech-Powered Comparative Market Analysis Tool to Help Its Agents Accurately and Quickly Price Homes

SEATTLE--Redfin, the next-generation real estate brokerage, today launched the Redfin Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) tool for Redfin's agents to give our home-selling clients the most accurate home pricing recommendations based on recent local sales and homebuyer demand.

"Pricing a home correctly is the most important factor in a successful home sale, and the number one thing on a seller's mind is — how much?" said Karen Krupsaw, vice president of real estate operations. "The Redfin CMA gives home sellers confidence in our recommendation because it combines the power of data with the expertise of the agent, and presents it all in a transparent, easy-to-understand format."

The Redfin CMA tool is built upon the algorithm that powers Redfin Estimate, the brokerage's automated home valuation tool that uses the most up-to-date data available on home listings and sales from the Multiple Listing Service. In addition to showing photos and detailed information about comparable homes and the local market, the Redfin CMA shows the seller the number of homebuyers currently searching for a home like theirs in their neighborhood. This is data that only Redfin can provide because, with the most visited brokerage website, Redfin is the only brokerage tracking buyers' online search, tour and offer activity at scale.

"When I sit with potential sellers in their living room and say, 'There are 245 buyers looking for a home like yours.' They are wowed," said Roddy de la Garza, a Redfin agent in Los Angeles. "The Redfin CMA tool supports my price recommendation with the best data available so I can show sellers how I will get them top dollar for their home."

More than half of homebuyers and sellers want their agent to use the latest technology, according to a Redfin-commissioned survey of more than 2,000 people who had bought or sold a home in the past year.

Redfin home-selling customers also have access the Redfin Home Dashboard, a comprehensive online resource that guides sellers through every step of their sale. The Home Dashboard gives sellers real-time data on how many people are viewing their property online, what their Redfin agent is currently doing to market their home and what the next steps are in the selling process, including reminders about important tasks to complete.

Redfin listings get prominent placement on Redfin.com and a targeted digital marketing program, resulting in three times as many views on Redfin.com compared to other similar listings. In 2015, homes listed with Redfin sold for an average of $4,300 more and were 15 percent more likely to sell within 90 days than similar homes listed by other brokerages.

Redfin Technology Boosts Agent Efficiency

The Redfin CMA tool helps agents work smarter, allowing them to prepare professional, customized CMAs even from a mobile device when they are on the go. An agent working with a buyer can quickly prepare a comprehensive CMA immediately following a home tour to help inform a homebuyer's offer strategy. The tool helps agents by auto-suggesting comparable homes ("comparables") using the Redfin Estimate algorithm. Agents can use suggested comparables and input their own comparables for a customized analysis. As agents use the tool and select comparables, the tool will integrate that feedback and continue to get smarter and refine its suggestions.

"Like all of the technology Redfin offers, this tool was built as a collaboration between Redfin engineers and agents," said de la Garza. "No one is more in tune to what the customer needs than the person sitting in the customer's living room, talking to them about their hopes and fears for their home sale. This tool was built to help agents demonstrate our expertise, work smarter, win more business and deliver better results for clients."

The Redfin CMA is the latest addition to the Redfin Agent Tools platform, a fully-integrated suite of technologies built by Redfin engineers exclusively for Redfin agents. Redfin Agent Tools integrates client relationship management, home tour scheduling, market analysis, offer writing and transaction management functions for Redfin agents.

For more information about the tool and the development process involving Redfin real estate agents and engineers, click here.

About Redfin Corporation

Redfin is the next-generation real estate brokerage, combining its own full-service agents with modern technology to redefine real estate in the consumer's favor. Founded by software engineers, Redfin has the country's #1 brokerage website and offers a host of online tools to consumers, including the Redfin Estimate, the highly accurate automated home-value estimate. Homebuyers and sellers enjoy a full-service, technology-powered experience from Redfin real estate agents, while saving thousands in commissions. Redfin serves more than 80 major metro areas across the U.S. The company has closed more than $31 billion in home sales and saved customers more than $335 million in fees through 2015.