Product and Services Roundup: Zillow, Realtor.com, Homes.com, Kleinanzeigen

This week's Product Roundup features each of the three 'Portal Wars' armies in the United States: Realtor.com, Homes.com, and Zillow (twice)...

North America: Zillow Rentals expands Appfolio integration

Zillow Rentals and AppFolio have expanded their integration with the launch of Listing Spotlight, a premium advertising product tailored to single-family rentals and properties with fewer than 25 units. The solution will be exclusively available to AppFolio customers.

Listing Spotlight enables property managers to purchase flexible, top-priority placements on the Zillow Rentals platform through a monthly subscription. The placements, which elevate listings across Zillow, Trulia, and HotPads, can be reassigned at any time to reflect changing leasing priorities. AppFolio users can access the product directly within their existing workflows.

Michael Sherman, senior vice president, Zillow Rentals, said:

"Managers of single-family rentals and smaller buildings have told us they want more exposure and flexibility in how they promote their most important listings. Listing Spotlight puts that power in their hands—helping the right homes stand out at the right time, while staying flexible as leasing needs shift."

AppFolio customers retain access to free Zillow syndication but can now combine Listing Spotlight with premium portfolio offerings such as Zillow Feed Connect.

The announcement follows previous joint developments between Zillow and AppFolio, including instant tour scheduling and application data sharing. These tools aim to reduce friction for both renters and property managers.

Kyle Triplett, senior vice president of product, AppFolio, said:

"This new offering with Zillow gives AppFolio customers the premium visibility tools they need to stay competitive in a shifting market—seamlessly integrated into their existing workflows. It’s about enabling smarter marketing decisions with less effort, and giving our customers greater control over their leasing funnel."

Zillow consolidates agent tools under new Zillow Pro suite

Zillow has announced Zillow Pro, an integrated suite combining Follow Up Boss, My Agent, and Premium Agent Profiles into a single product offering aimed at helping agents convert more leads and manage client relationships across Zillow’s platform.

According to the company, Zillow Pro is designed to address common pain points for real estate professionals, including lost visibility into returning clients, lack of branding continuity, and delayed or missed opportunities to re-engage prospective buyers. Zillow claims the new product suite uses proprietary AI and platform data to surface actionable insights at key moments in the transaction funnel.

Zillow Pro includes expanded functionality for My Agent, previously limited to consumers who connected directly on Zillow. Agents can now invite any contact from their Follow Up Boss CRM into a My Agent relationship, extending persistent branding across Zillow and enabling direct communication from listings. Once connected, agents can view client activity—including saved homes and searches—within Follow Up Boss in real time.

The suite also introduces a Premium Agent Profile feature, allowing agents to display sales history and curated media such as photo slideshows and videos. These profiles are exclusive to Zillow Pro subscribers.

Zillow said its investment in Zillow Pro reflects a broader strategy to equip agents with technology that supports more responsive, personalised service.

Jun Choo, Zillow’s chief operating officer, said:

"Zillow is laser-focused on helping real estate agents succeed, and with Zillow Pro, we're deepening that commitment.

"We're building game-changing technology that enhances the essential relationship between agents and their clients—giving professionals the insights, tools and visibility they need to grow their business in today's market."

Product features include a Follow Up Boss integration, Premium Agent Profiles, expanded My Agent access, persistent branding that follows connected clients throughout the Zillow ecosystem, real-time alerts based on search behaviour, and eligibility for Zillow Preferred at no additional cost in 2026.

Initial launches are scheduled for early next year, with a national rollout expected by summer 2026.

Realtor.com adds natural-language search and image recognition tools

Realtor.com has launched a new AI-powered search function that allows users to search for homes using natural language instead of predefined filters.

The proprietary engine, now available on iOS and web, interprets typed queries like “3-bedroom ranch with 2 baths and a pool in Austin under 5 years old,” surfacing results based on text and photo analysis. Android support is expected soon.

The tool supports more than 300 searchable terms and is designed to recognise specific features like vaulted ceilings, fenced yards, or modern kitchens by interpreting listing descriptions and images. Users can still combine text input with standard filters. Realtor.com reports that the search engine improves over time through behavioural learning.

Mickey Neuberger, chief consumer and marketing officer, Realtor.com, said:

"At Realtor.com, we know how overwhelming finding the perfect home can be and 'search it, how you say it' AI-powered search is one of many new features we will launch to make it less overwhelming. This new feature fundamentally changes how you search. You no longer need to click through endless listing photos to find a home with high ceilings or hardwood floors or a fenced in yard. Instead, just type it in how you would say it and results are provided instantly."

According to a Realtor.com survey, 62% of prospective buyers are frustrated by the inability to describe their preferences during home search. 65% said they are unable to search based on what they care about most.

The AI system is also designed for use by real estate professionals. Agents can apply the same natural language search inputs to locate listings with more precision and deliver more personalised service. Realtor.com positions the tool as a way to reduce friction in discovery and accelerate engagement with high-intent buyers.

Homes.com launches AI-powered smart search

CoStar Group's residential portal Homes.com has launched Smart Search, an AI-powered search function designed to improve the residential listing experience through natural language processing. The feature enables users to conduct home searches using conversational queries across the company’s online marketplaces.

The tool is now live across CoStar’s residential platforms, including those serving renters, buyers, and general market explorers.

Smart Search allows renters and buyers to bypass traditional filter-based interfaces. Instead, users can input complex, multi-factor queries in everyday language and receive instant results aligned with lifestyle preferences.

Key capabilities include complex phrase handling, whereby queries such as “ranch-style house with a pool in Austin” return relevant matches without manual filtering. Users can search across multiple geographies in one search, search by proximity to landmarks or workplaces, and also use speech-to-text input for hands-free searching via mobile or desktop.

According to CoStar Group, Smart Search is underpinned by proprietary natural language processing models designed to interpret user intent and produce higher-quality matches from its listings database.

Andy Florance, Founder and CEO at CoStar Group, said:

“Smart Search represents a new chapter in how people discover homes. Too many users struggle with clunky filters and rigid forms that make finding the right home more difficult than it should be. We intentionally built Smart Search to remove those barriers, to allow people to simply ask for what they want, in their own words, and see accurate, personalized results instantly.

"At CoStar Group, every innovation we create starts with our customers in mind. Smart Search is designed to save people time, reduce frustration, and make home discovery intuitive and even fun. Whether you’re a first-time buyer, a renter looking for your next neighborhood, or just exploring what’s out there, Smart Search delivers clarity where there used to be confusion. It’s the easiest way to find your home, and we’re just getting started."

Europe: Kleinanzeigen to launch “New Construction Partnerships” in 2026

The German horizontal marketplace operator is set to release a new offer for its real estate vertical next spring.

The “New Construction Partnerships” platform allows real estate professionals to bundle listings within a development project and present them clearly on a dedicated project page, providing prospective buyers with an overview of the project.

Karl Wolfart, sales director of real estate at Kleinanzeigen, said:

“With our new construction partnerships, we are creating a contemporary solution for real estate professionals to market new construction projects in a high-quality, effective and customer-oriented manner. The overview for prospective buyers is significantly improved, making it even easier and faster for buyers and sellers to find each other.” [Translated from German]

Additionally, Kleinanzeigen states that it will introduce new offers, including listings that support landscape photos, enhanced filter options, and an integrated mortgage calculator.

The company will also provide a package that improves the prominence and branding of top listings on its platform. The company also teased a new AI offering that can generate full listings, including a title, category, and description—all from a single image.