Seattle-based Zillow and Kirkland-based Market Leader are locked in a battle to provide the very best online tools to real estate professionals, something we’ve written about in detail over the past few months.
So, how are things shaping up? We got a little bit of insight today as Market Leader announced financial results for the first quarter, reporting that it trimmed its net loss from $4.3 million to $2.5 million while driving a 41 percent increase in revenue to $10.2 million. (Zillow plans to release its results tomorrow afternoon).
During the first quarter, Market Leader announced deals with Century 21 Real Estate and Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate. And CEO Ian Morris said that they are helping some of the biggest firms use technology to become more productive.
“Increasingly, leading franchise networks and brokerage companies are attracted to our award-winning platform, as well as our proven ability to drive broad, franchise-wide adoption and improved productivity,” said Morris in a statement.
Nonetheless, Market Leader remains far smaller than Zillow, at least in terms of market value. Zillow now is valued by Wall Street at $990 million, compared to the $97 million value investors have placed on Market Leader.
This is one David and Goliath battle that should be interesting to watch play out.
