Zillow’s big push to bring in Canadian homebuyers reached a benchmark last week as the listing giant surpassed 100 partners in the country.
The company, which first began displaying Canadian listings in October, announced it now has more than 100 listing partners north of the border, including recent deals with Ontario-based Royal Le Page Urban, Alberta’s Royal Le Page Innovate, Edmonton’s Maxwell Realty and Calgary’s Plintz Real Estate.
Royal Le Page Urban and Royal Le Page Innovate are local franchises of one of Canada’s largest real estate companies while Maxwell Realty and Plintz Real Estate are independent brokerages serving tight-knit communities.
“Zillow is continuing its growth in Canada alongside so many outstanding brokerages and franchisors,” said Errol Samuelson, Zillow Group’s chief industry development officer, in a prepared statement. “The increased exposure of Canadian listings to millions of home shoppers is proving to be a win for both consumers and the broader industry.”
Over the past year, several brokerages have made a concentrated effort to tap into the Canadian market. Redfin launched in Toronto this February and announced plans to expand to Vancouver by April. Zillow currently has several partners in Vancouver but none in Québec.
Zillow once said it plans to have at least 50,000 Canadian listings on its site but told Inman it is not ready to announced how many are now listed.
Last fall, Zillow revealed that it receives over 100 million visits from non-American visitors each year, with most of them coming from Canada. The properties it features on its site are aimed at Canadians as well as Americans interested in buying vacation residences and second homes.
“At MaxWell Realty we have always strived to combine real estate technology with a personal touch to create an informed consumer,” said Bill Tarrabain, the president of MaxWell Realty of Edmonton, Alberta, in a statement. “With that in mind, a partnership with Zillow seemed very natural.”