Skylar Olsen is rejoining Seattle-based real estate tech company Zillow Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ZG), this time as chief economist.
Olsen spent eight years at Zillow from 2012 to 2020, including in her most recent role as senior principal economist. Since leaving Zillow, she founded a consultancy called Reimagine Economics, according to the company. Zillow announced the hire on Monday.
“I’m honored to return to Zillow as chief economist and help home buyers, sellers and renters across the country better understand their options and how to best navigate what has become an increasingly trying housing market,” Olsen said in a release. “I truly revel in the opportunity to provide the tools and information to help people make some of the biggest, most impactful decisions of their lives.”
In between stints at Zillow, the company said Olsen also spent time as the head of economics at the real estate fintech startup Tomo, which is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, but has roughly a third of its workforce in Seattle. Former Zillow executives Carey Armstrong and Greg Schwartz co-founded Tomo.
Along with Olsen's return, Zillow on Monday announced its appointment of Orphe Divounguy as senior economist. Divounguy was previously the chief economist at the Illinois Policy Institute, according to Zillow, and he is the founder of Quantitative Research Group.
In addition to its home and rental search, Zillow provides mortgages and a platform for partner agents called Premier Agent. The company announced in November it is shuttering its direct homebuying service, Zillow Offers, in a move that will take several quarters to finish. The move is resulting in a 25% reduction in headcount at Zillow.
In Zillow's earnings results for the first quarter of 2022, released in May, it reported total revenue of $4.3 billion, up from $1.2 billion in Q1 2021. Zillow Offers generated $3.7 billion in revenue, up from $701 million during the first quarter of 2021. Zillow's homes segment, which includes Zillow Offers, posted a net loss of $68 million for the quarter.
