Seattle-based Zillow names new CEO as national home sales continue falling

(The Center Square) – The Seattle-based real estate company Zillow has named a new chief executive officer as the U.S. housing market continues slowly falling.

Zillow announced Chief Operating Officer Jeremy Wacksman has been promoted to the CEO position on Wednesday.

Wacksman first joined Zillow in 2009 and has been promoted multiple times throughout his 15 years at the company.

As COO, Wacksman operationalized the company's housing super app strategy while diversifying revenue streams and growing the rental and mortgage businesses.

Wacksman also organized and elevated Zillow’s engineering and design organization staff that is responsible for product rollouts such as 3D interactive floor plans, real-time touring, and Zillow Showcase, a marketing tool that allows real estate agents to create premium listings on Zillow that are designed to stand out and attract buyers.

Wacksman succeeds Zillow Group co-founder Richard Barton, who has served as Zillow Group’s CEO since 2019.

Barton will remain on the board and become co-executive chair of the board.

Barton praised Wacksman for his work at Zillow while the company navigates a challenging housing market.

"Zillow's business is firing on all cylinders and performing well through a challenging real estate macro,” Barton said in a news release . "This is due in no small part to the leadership of Jeremy Wacksman, with the past three years being a time of particularly impressive innovation for the company.”

According to SEC filings , Wacksman’s annual base salary is set at $825,000 with the board approving an award of 61,993 restricted stock units and 185,976 nonqualified stock options for the purchase of Class C capital stock under the Zillow Group.

Zillow is working through a slow housing market. According to the company, the national average home value is $363,438, which is up 3.8% over the past year.

Meanwhile, all four major U.S. regions posted home sales declines. The number of home sales across the U.S. dropped 5.4% in June, according to the National Association of Realtors .