I'd like to point out that this article neither claims nor provides evidence that Zillow has lost money.
For one thing, as discussed previously[1], Zillow earns commissions and fees when both buying and selling houses, so they may be making money even when the prices nominally show a loss.
For another, even if the majority of the houses were sold at a loss, that statistic by itself tells you nothing about Zillow's overall profit or loss. For example, they might have sold most of the houses for a very small loss, but earned large enough profits on the others to balance those losses out. There simply isn't enough information to say.
They are losing money hand over fist in Tucson. I have several zillow signs in my neighborhood right now. Priced at ridiculous levels and Zillow paid an even more ridiculousness(fitting word play) price to "acquire" the home. Its laughable.
Boots on the ground here telling you the market in the Southwest is jacked up... again. I bought my house in 2009 as a foreclosure and I see the same signs I saw in 2007 all over again. I can't speak for the rest of the country, but Phoenix and Tucson are going to be real estate nightmares in 2022.
For one thing, as discussed previously[1], Zillow earns commissions and fees when both buying and selling houses, so they may be making money even when the prices nominally show a loss.
For another, even if the majority of the houses were sold at a loss, that statistic by itself tells you nothing about Zillow's overall profit or loss. For example, they might have sold most of the houses for a very small loss, but earned large enough profits on the others to balance those losses out. There simply isn't enough information to say.
[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29060092