Zillow doesn't invent the price; it just reports the price as listed, or, as closed upon.
You'd be surprised at what the foreign investor market is willing to pay, since the USA is economy remains fairly stable,
and has a history of not subject to political and economic turmoil.
Under the current regime, that may change however..
???
>>>it just reports the price as listed, or, as closed upon.
My house closed at 145K four years ago when I bought it and I am not selling it , so the $206K value is not the selling price either. I live near the armpit of Ohio, Youngstown—not exactly high real estate value area.
Did a google search and Zillow admits their numbers are off. Guess they use a simple formula that doesnt look at comps for starters.
We sold our 2000 SF Orange County CA House two years ago for $785,000. Had a good sized Lot for the area. We bought it for $240,000 in the early 90’s.
The people who purchased it put in another (what I estimate to be) $50,000 to $80,000 to make it the Home they wanted.
We figured they would be underwater for a while. Boy, were we wrong. They can easily get a Million (and probably more) for it now if they decided to sell.
Like everything is Life, timing is everything.