The Endless Scroll: How Online Home Listings Became a Surrogate for Social Interaction

As she browses through home listings on Zillow, Heather McIlhany describes her experience as "free, upbeat fantasizing," allowing her to try on different lives without ever leaving her couch. She's not alone; online listings have become a staple of many people's daily scrolling diets, with staggering numbers: 2.4 billion visits to Zillow's site in the first quarter of 2025 alone. This phenomenon goes beyond actual house hunters, encompassing homeowners monitoring the local market, renters "window shopping," and people dissecting homes' features and photos in group chats.

Key Takeaways:

• Online home listings have become a social norm, with people sharing and discussing real estate and homes as a way to connect with others and gather social intelligence.
• The sharing of home listings is a form of "social gossip," allowing people to assess potential neighbors' values and reliability.
• Listings have trained us to understand a special euphemistic code, with terms like "cozy" and "sunlit" taking on specific meanings.
• Online listings can be a form of vetting process, with people using them to get a sense of a potential partner's living situation before meeting.
• People use online listings to imagine different lives and scenarios, whether it's moving to a new city or living in a specific type of home.
• Listings can convey unintended information, such as when a couple may be getting a divorce or when someone is planning to move to a new state.
• The mere existence of listings can warp people's in-person expectations, with clients often being disappointed by the realities of a home once they see it in person.

Statistics:

• 2.4 billion visits to Zillow's site in the first quarter of 2025 alone.
• Over 4 million homes sold in the United States in all of 2024.
• The majority of people who browse home listings are not actively looking to buy or sell a home.

Sources:

• "Heather McIlhany, a marketing consultant in Arlington, Virginia" (no specific source mentioned).
• Chris Linsell, director of content for Luxury Presence, a digital platform for real estate agents (no specific source mentioned).
• Michele Gelfand, Stanford University professor of organizational behavior, via email (no specific source mentioned).
• Lydia Hallay, broker at Living Room Realty in Portland, Oregon, interview with The Washington Post (no specific source mentioned).
• Rohit Saxena, architect in Arlington, Massachusetts, interview with The Washington Post (no specific source mentioned).
• Maria Simon, lawyer in Bethesda, Maryland, interview with The Washington Post (no specific source mentioned).
• Zillow, The Washington Post (no specific source mentioned).