Leading Brands in U.S. Real Estate: Q1 2025 Overview

As the real estate market continues to evolve, digital platforms like Zillow, Realtor.com, and Redfin stand out for their significant online presence. This article delves into the performance of these leading brands, highlighting their audience trends, app engagement, and advertising strategies from Q4 2024 to Q1 2025. Sensor Tower's comprehensive data offers an unparalleled glimpse into these dynamics, providing insights into cross-platform user behavior.

Zillow

Zillow's digital presence is robust, featuring its website, zillow.com, and the Zillow Real Estate & Rentals app.

• Audience Trends: Zillow.com saw a consistent increase in unique visits, peaking in March 2025 with approximately 32M unique visitors. The monthly deduplicated audience remained above 78M throughout the quarter, indicating a strong user base across both web and app platforms.

• App Engagement: The app's monthly active users grew steadily, reaching over 11M by March 2025. This growth underscores the increasing preference for mobile platforms in real estate searches.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Zillow's monthly advertising spend varied, with a noticeable peak in December 2024 at approximately $9.3M. Facebook and Instagram were primary channels, with Facebook delivering the highest impressions, exceeding 400M in several months. Notably, OTT services also played a role in their advertising strategy.

Realtor.com

Realtor.com maintains a significant online footprint with its website, realtor.com, and the Realtor.com Real Estate & Rent app.

• Audience Trends: The website experienced a substantial rise in unique visits, particularly in March 2025, with over 14M unique visitors. The monthly deduplicated audience grew steadily, surpassing 32M by the end of Q1 2025.

• App Engagement: The app's monthly active user count increased to over 2M in March 2025, reflecting a growing engagement with mobile users.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Realtor.com did not report any monthly advertising spend during this period, focusing its efforts on organic growth and user retention.

Redfin

Redfin's digital strategy includes its main website, redfin.com, and the Redfin Homes for Sale & Rent app.

• Audience Trends: Redfin.com maintained a stable user base, with unique visits remaining around 7M to 8M through Q1 2025. The monthly deduplicated audience showed a slight increase, nearing 19M by March.

• App Engagement: The app saw a rise in monthly active users, reaching close to 3.2M in March 2025, indicating a strong mobile presence.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Redfin's advertising efforts peaked in February 2025, with a monthly spend of over $5.3M. Desktop video and OTT were key channels, delivering significant impressions across platforms.

Conclusion

The Q1 2025 analysis of Zillow, Realtor.com, and Redfin reveals a competitive landscape where digital presence and user engagement are crucial. Sensor Tower's data provides critical insights into these trends, highlighting the importance of cross-platform strategies. As the real estate market continues to digitize, understanding these dynamics will be essential for brands aiming to capture and retain audience attention.

For more detailed insights, explore Sensor Tower's Web Insights, App Performance Insights, and Pathmatics offerings.