Why Zillow won’t buy your home this year

Zillow pauses home-buying on its site , to catch up with inventory backlog .Zillow is the popular renting and real estate platform that has utilized iBuying. The company buys up properties and then sells them through its app.It announced the abrupt halt to its iBuying program, Zillow Offers, on Oct 18.We're operating within a labor- and supply-constrained economy inside a competitive real estate market, especially in the construction, renovation and closing spaces, Jeremy Wacksman, Zillow's COO, via CNN.Pausing new contracts will enable us to focus on sellers already under contract with us and our current home inventory, Jeremy Wacksman, Zillow's COO, via CNN.Analysts say that the choice to stop its iBuying program spells trouble for Zillow.iBuyers have access to a tremendous amount of data, they can see months into the future and plan their inventory, Mike DelPrete, Researcher at University of Colorado Boulder, via CNN.So the fact that Zillow didn't see this coming and wasn't able to make adjustments before it had to resort to an iBuying lockdown is pretty surprising, Mike DelPrete, Researcher at University of Colorado Boulder, via CNN.Part of the issue for Zillow boils down to the lack of human and material resources to complete property fixes and other aspects of its workflow.Part of the issue for Zillow boils down to the lack of human and material resources to complete property fixes and other aspects of its workflow.There is only so much that technology can do. At the end of the day you need people to process a lot of transactions, Mike DelPrete, Researcher at University of Colorado Boulder, via CNN.Analysts also say that in a market in which iBuying continues to grow, Zillow's issues are specific to the company.Zillow just kept barreling down and now they've hit this wall, Mike DelPrete, Researcher at University of Colorado Boulder, via CNN.Zillow is currently second in the iBuyer market, trailing the Opendoor platform which remains active.If you're trying to be number one in the market, slamming on the brakes is one of the worst things you can do, Mike DelPrete, Researcher at University of Colorado Boulder, via CNN.You want to make some adjustments before you get to that point -- slow down, switch gears. This is not the preferred outcome for Zillow, Mike DelPrete, Researcher at University of Colorado Boulder, via CNN