Zillow API General Search

Question

I have a few issues using the Zillow API:

Querying the API
Fetching Specific Data

Querying Issues

The issue is that I can't seem to find a way to use the Zillow API for general searches such as searching by only by zip code. Here is a sample query from the deep search:

<SearchResults:searchresults xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.zillow.com/static/xsd/SearchResults.xsd http://www.zillowstatic.com/vstatic/419b583f682a74b83f007039dd9c49f8/static/xsd/SearchResults.xsd" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:SearchResults="http://www.zillow.com/static/xsd/SearchResults.xsd">
    <request>
        <address>15096 Oak Creek Rd</address>
        <citystatezip>El Cajon, CA</citystatezip>
    </request>
    <message>
        <text>Request successfully processed</text>
        <code>0</code>
    </message>
    <response>
        <results>
            <result>
                <zpid>16893601</zpid>
                <links>
                    <homedetails>http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/15096-Oak-Creek-Rd-El-Cajon-CA-92021/16893601_zpid/</homedetails>
                    <graphsanddata>http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/15096-Oak-Creek-Rd-El-Cajon-CA-92021/16893601_zpid/#charts-and-data</graphsanddata>
                    <mapthishome>http://www.zillow.com/homes/16893601_zpid/</mapthishome>
                    <comparables>http://www.zillow.com/homes/comps/16893601_zpid/</comparables>
                </links>
                <address>
                    <street>15096 Oak Creek Rd</street>
                    <zipcode>92021</zipcode>
                    <city>El Cajon</city>
                    <state>CA</state>
                    <latitude>32.86576</latitude>
                    <longitude>-116.847964</longitude>
                </address>
                <FIPScounty>6073</FIPScounty>
                <useCode>SingleFamily</useCode>
                <taxAssessmentYear>2012</taxAssessmentYear>
                <taxAssessment>496002.0</taxAssessment>
                <yearBuilt>2006</yearBuilt>
                <lotSizeSqFt>108900</lotSizeSqFt>
                <finishedSqFt>2700</finishedSqFt>
                <bathrooms>3.0</bathrooms>
                <bedrooms>3</bedrooms>
                <totalRooms>7</totalRooms>
                <lastSoldDate>03/22/1999</lastSoldDate>
                <lastSoldPrice currency="USD">268000</lastSoldPrice>
                <zestimate>
                    <amount currency="USD">581783</amount>
                    <last-updated>05/12/2013</last-updated>
                    <oneWeekChange deprecated="true"/>
                    <valueChange duration="30" currency="USD">12050</valueChange>
                    <valuationRange>
                        <low currency="USD">523605</low>
                        <high currency="USD">692322</high>
                    </valuationRange>
                    <percentile>0</percentile>
                </zestimate>
                <localRealEstate>
                    <region id="38333" type="city" name="El Cajon">
                        <links>
                            <overview>http://www.zillow.com/local-info/CA-El-Cajon/r_38333/</overview>
                            <forSaleByOwner>http://www.zillow.com/el-cajon-ca/fsbo/</forSaleByOwner>
                            <forSale>http://www.zillow.com/el-cajon-ca/</forSale>
                        </links>
                    </region>
                </localRealEstate>
            </result>
        </results>
    </response>
</SearchResults:searchresults>

That gives us a fair amount of data but it's too specific. I have tried to simply omit the address portion of the search and it returns an error. Is there a way to get a more general search using the Zillow or some other real estate API?

Data Issue

The above response from my query is of a house that is currently for sale. No where does it actually state the list price for the house. Is there something that I am missing in my request or does the API simply not offer that?

What I've Tried

Looking at the other Zillow APIs
Manipulating the query string

Any help is appreciated! Also, if there is some API that I can use that has the functionality needed, let me know!

Im looking for the same, it seems they dont have that which is so pointless, what did you ended up doing — meda, Jun 14 '15 at 23:53

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 07 '15 at 18:45

Ok the reason is because first they don't offer general search data, only specific and certain bits of data. When it comes to specific searches like address based, they offer an API for this, just not for general search.

However, if you are asking how to use there API please reply and I will provide an example.

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 10 '15 at 16:44

After you convert the XML to JSON and console it, you should have an object returned to you. If you click the arrows next to the object they open and reveal all the key value pairs and how they are indexed. As you keep opening the arrows you will see a number of keys and one of them must provide the value for the house. In this example, I use the "GetSearchResults" API and I believe I found it under 'zestimates' labeled as "amount' See image below:

Also just a as a tip. A great way to read an object is to use console.table() rather than console.log() this will be the result:

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 25 '14 at 17:48

No where does it actually state the list price for the house.

Look at these fields:

...
<lastSoldPrice currency="USD">268000</lastSoldPrice>
...
<zestimate>
    <amount currency="USD">581783</amount>
    ...
    <valuationRange>
        <low currency="USD">523605</low>
        <high currency="USD">692322</high>
    </valuationRange>
    ...
</zestimate>
...

Zillow API General Search

Querying Issues

Data Issue

What I've Tried

3 Answers3

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