Zillow launches individual room listings as Americans struggle with higher rent, housing costs

With home prices and rent up dramatically since the start of the pandemic, a growing number of Americans are looking for ways to cut their monthly housing expenses.

One common solution? Roommates.

The rental marketplace Zillow on Thursday announced the option to search for individual room listings. A beta testing mode for the feature first launched in certain markets in November, ahead of this week's full launch, and there are already an estimated 10,000 single-room listings nationwide.

"(The room feature is) a way for us to expand the affordable selection to our renters, in addition to providing more optionality for landlords and homeowners, potentially, to help offset mortgage costs," said Lily Ferguson, the senior product manager at Zillow who was behind the room for rent launch.

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The stress of finding roommates

David Smith, a 33-year-old based in New York City, lived in a four-bedroom Brooklyn Heights apartment with a rotating cast of roommates between 2012 and 2018. Since it was Smith's name on the lease, he said each time a roommate moved out, he was tasked with finding a replacement. If he failed to move fast enough, he risked paying double his $1,000 monthly share of the rent.

“It's a stressful process, especially when there's months remaining in the lease. That’s something that I couldn't afford covering on my own,” he said. “So you're in need of somebody, but you don't want it to be just anybody.”

In 2019, about one-third (32.2%) of U.S. adults lived in “shared households” with at least one adult resident who was not the householder’s partner or spouse, according to Census data. This figure includes adult children living with parents and adult roommates but does not count those aged 18 to 24 enrolled in school. 

Since then, housing has only become more expensive. A report from Zillow says the income required to comfortably spend the recommended 30% of income on rent for the median renter is up 40.6% since pre-pandemic times, to $79,264. 

And despite positive economic indicators like waning inflation and a resilient labor market, Americans say they are struggling in the current economy. That's pushing more renters to find roommates.

"Affordability continues to be a challenge," Ferguson said.

Adding in roommates can also help make mortgage payments more affordable for homeowners, who face a 30-year fixed mortgage rate of more than 7%.

How to search for individual rooms on Zillow

Zillow’s app now features a “Room” filter under the “Home Type” drop-down menu. Renters can search for a room in a single-family rental, condominium or townhome based on budget, lifestyle and preferred location.

The feature is available nationwide but is especially popular in larger cities like Los Angeles, Boston and Atlanta.

"You're going to see a larger cluster of rooms in those major metropolitan areas where affordability continues to be a challenge," Ferguson said.