CoStar’s Andy Florance Just Called Out Zillow on Inman Stage

• Portal combat: CoStar CEO Andy Florance came out swinging at Inman Connect, calling out Zillow and positioning Homes.com as the agent-first alternative.

• Keeping up the PACE: Nuveen raised $785 million for its latest C-PACE fund as investor demand for sustainable commercial real estate financing grows.

• Bored architects club: Architecture billings continue to fall, signaling prolonged weakness in commercial real estate development.

• Upcoming webinar: How AI and data tools are transforming energy management in commercial real estate asset operations. Sign up

Editor’s Pick

CoStar’s Andy Florance Just Called Out Zillow on Inman Stage

CoStar CEO Andy Florance did not hold back when he took the stage at the Inman Connect conference this week. Just hours earlier, CoStar’s residential listings platform, Homes.com, had filed a lawsuit against Zillow, alleging widespread copyright infringement. The complaint claims that Zillow used more than 47,000 copyrighted photographs without permission. It marks the latest in a series of legal actions by CoStar against competitors that have allegedly used its proprietary content without paying for it.

Florance, in a conversation with Inman CEO Emily Paquette, addressed the lawsuit head-on during his keynote appearance. “We have a team of full-time photographers. We pay their salary and benefits. We can’t afford to do that if others are allowed to take the photos for free,” he said.

While Florance admitted some surprise at what he described as Zillow’s brazen use of protected content, he pointed out that this was not an isolated incident. He reminded the audience that Zillow had previously been found liable for copyright infringement in a separate case involving VHT Studios. Notably, VHT Studios is now owned by CoStar following its acquisition of Matterport earlier this year.

The lawsuit is just one part of Florance’s broader strategy to turn Homes.com into the dominant residential real estate portal. His goal is not just to compete with Zillow and Realtor.com, but to build what he describes as the most agent-friendly platform in the industry. “Realtor.com and Zillow are taking 90 percent of leads away from agents,” he said. “We are doing something different. We are helping agents and homeowners sell the home faster, in a way that is harmonious with the owner and the listing agent.”

Florance emphasized that Homes.com is not selling leads, nor is it acting as a broker. “We are not in the same business as Zillow or Realtor.com,” he explained. “It is completely different.”

That distinction has become central to the CoStar narrative. Rather than insert itself between the agent and the consumer, Homes.com positions itself as a tool to empower listing agents, not displace them. Florance has framed this as a philosophical divide, one that he believes will eventually tip market share in Homes.com’s favor.

The conversation turned to a broader issue in the real estate industry: control of off-market listings. When asked about the ongoing conflict between Zillow and Compass over so-called “whisper listings,” Florance argued that the real threat lies not with agents protecting client privacy, but with a single portal gaining too much market power. “What Compass is doing might be a thorn in the paw of the industry,” he said. “But what’s happening with Zillow is more serious. It’s a dagger in the heart.”

Florance also voiced concern that a Zillow-dominated landscape could threaten the viability of local multiple listing services and the Realtor associations that rely on them. “I’ve heard that Zillow is reaching out to brokerages to get direct feeds,” he said. “That makes them competitive with the MLSs themselves.”

Despite the uphill battle, Homes.com appears to be gaining momentum. The site saw a 6 percent increase in traffic last quarter, reaching 111 million unique monthly visitors. Membership is also growing, with 6,300 new members added in the same period.

If the lawsuit against Zillow results in a substantial financial penalty or forces a change in how Zillow operates, it could provide the opening that Homes.com needs to further close the gap. CoStar is clearly betting that now is the time to strike.

Overheard

Nuveen Continues to Show the Potential of C-PACE Lending

Nuveen has hit a major milestone today, announcing the close of $785 million in new commitments for its Nuveen C‑PACE Lending Fund III, through its sustainability arm Nuveen Green Capital. This latest fund, the third in its series following the 2021 acquisition of Greenworks (now NGC), will continue to channel capital into energy efficiency, water conservation, and climate resilience upgrades across commercial real estate. According to Nuveen, its C‑PACE strategies now account for over $6 billion in assets under management.

The financing model—Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C‑PACE)—is increasingly appealing to institutional investors, offering long-duration, investment-grade fixed income with steady, risk-adjusted returns, while also supporting ESG mandates. NGC’s vertically integrated platform delivers capital as well as regulatory compliance advice.

With the launch of Fund III, Nuveen expands its institutional footprint. Its recent survey shows that 93 percent of insurers consider or plan to consider ESG and impact in investment decisions, meaning there is room to grow their nearly $325 billion in assets under management. For the CRE market, the deal signals growing mainstream acceptance of clean energy lending as a scalable, return‑oriented strategy.

Survey Shows that Architects Bookings Continue to Drop

Architects are still waiting for the recovery that never came. The latest American Institute of Architects/Deltek Billings Index came in down for another month. The last 31 out of the last 33 months has come in below the growth threshold of 50. While inquiries ticked up to their highest point since last fall, actual signed contracts remain elusive, now in decline for 16 straight months. Clients are poking around, but they're not pulling the trigger.

Commercial and institutional projects saw the slowest rate of decline, while multifamily continues to drag, with a dismal ABI reading of 43.8. The only region showing any real signs of life is the South, where activity eked into the black at 50.6. For everyone else, the pipeline remains clogged. Architects are often the canaries in the construction coal mine, and right now they’re still coughing.

The ABI tends to lead construction activity by about nine to twelve months, so weak billings now mean sluggish building later. This should serve as a reality check for anyone hoping that the prospect of rate cuts alone will reignite development. Without demand from tenants or capital from lenders, even the best-laid floorplans will stay on the drawing board.

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