Zillow Scraper

A fast and efficient Apify actor for scraping property listings from Zillow search results. This scraper is designed for maximum reliability and cost-effectiveness while delivering high-quality real estate data.

🏠 What it does

This actor scrapes property listings from Zillow search URLs, extracting comprehensive property information including:

• Property Details: Address, price, bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage
• Location Data: Latitude, longitude coordinates
• Property Status: Active listings, new construction, etc.
• Direct Links: Direct URLs to property detail pages
• Unique Identifiers: Zillow property IDs (ZPID)

⚡ Key Features

Efficient Data Collection

• 500 listings per request: Collects up to 500 property listings in a single request
• Smart area splitting: Automatically splits large search areas into manageable sections
• Maximum 2000 listings per URL: Optimized for efficiency and cost-effectiveness
• Zero-result handling: Automatically skips areas with no listings

Reliability & Performance

• Gradual concurrency scaling: Starts with 1 request, scales up to 5 based on success
• Intelligent retry logic: Handles temporary blocks with exponential backoff
• Session management: Rotates sessions to avoid detection
• Proxy support: Uses residential proxies for better success rates

Data Quality

• Duplicate prevention: Ensures each property is collected only once
• Complete data extraction: All available fields are captured
• Geographic accuracy: Precise coordinates for mapping applications

📊 Input

The actor accepts Zillow search URLs in the following format:

{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Austin-TX_rb/?searchQueryState=..."
    }
  ]
}

Supported URL Types

• City-based searches (e.g., "Austin TX homes")
• Neighborhood searches
• Custom search areas with map bounds
• Any Zillow search URL with searchQueryState parameter

📈 Output

The actor outputs property listings in JSON format:

{
  "zpid": "29416641",
  "address": "7503 Carriage Dr, Austin, TX 78752",
  "price": "$675,000",
  "beds": 3,
  "baths": 2,
  "sqft": 1264,
  "latitude": 30.33884,
  "longitude": -97.70847,
  "status": "Active",
  "url": "https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7503-Carriage-Dr-Austin-TX-78752/29416641_zpid/"
}

🎯 Efficiency Strategy

Why 2000 listings per URL?

We've optimized this scraper for efficiency and cost-effectiveness rather than maximum data volume. Here's why:

• Faster execution: Smaller requests complete quickly
• Higher success rates: Less likely to trigger anti-bot measures
• Lower costs: Fewer compute resources and proxy usage
• Better reliability: Consistent results across different areas

Getting More Results

If you need more than 2000 listings for a large area:

1. Use multiple URLs: Create separate search URLs for different neighborhoods
2. Zoom in on Zillow: Use Zillow's map interface to create more targeted searches
3. Split by neighborhoods: Create URLs for specific areas within your target region

This approach is more economical and avoids the detection mechanisms that often block large-scale scraping attempts.

🚀 Usage Examples

Basic Usage

const input = {
  startUrls: [
    {
      url: "https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Austin-TX_rb/?searchQueryState=..."
    }
  ]
};

Multiple Areas

const input = {
  startUrls: [
    {
      url: "https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Austin-TX_rb/?searchQueryState=..."
    },
    {
      url: "https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Round-Rock-TX_rb/?searchQueryState=..."
    }
  ]
};

📊 Performance Metrics

• Typical execution time: 3-5 minutes per URL
• Success rate: 95%+ with proper proxy configuration
• Data collection: Up to 2000 listings per URL
• Concurrency: Scales from 1 to 5 requests based on performance

🔧 Configuration

Proxy Settings

The actor automatically uses residential proxies for optimal performance. No additional configuration needed.

Rate Limiting

Built-in intelligent rate limiting that adapts to Zillow's response patterns.

📝 Notes

• Respectful scraping: This actor is designed to be respectful of Zillow's servers
• Compliance: Always review and comply with Zillow's terms of service
• Data usage: Ensure you have permission to use scraped data for your intended purpose

🤝 Support

For questions or issues, please refer to the Apify documentation or contact support through the Apify platform.

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This actor is designed for efficient, reliable data collection while maintaining respect for the target website's resources.