Founded in 1999, ZipRealty created a new kind of real estate brokerage, enabled by technology to deliver exceptional client service at a lower cost with subsequent savings passed through to home buyers and sellers. ZipRealty made home buying and selling faster, easier, and less expensive for customers, while providing employees a great place to work.

On August 29, 1999, ZipRealty opened for business by launching its website ZipRealty.com. Hundreds of potential clients registered on the site, looking for a better way to buy and sell homes. Just three weeks later, ZipRealty's first client signed a contract to purchase a home in San Jose, California.

In 2000, ZipRealty expanded to 12 markets around the country, adding hundreds of agents and thousands of completely satisfied clients. Many major media outlets, including CBS, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg TV, featured ZipRealty as an innovative real estate company, combining hi-tech with the high touch of professional agents.

In 2003, ZipRealty generated $33.8 million in net revenues compared to $17.2 million in 2002 and $4.0 million in 2001. As of September 30, 2004 ZipRealty had over 400,000 active registered users who had accessed its website within nine months, and had closed over 16,100 real estate transactions with an aggregate transaction value of approximately $5.0 billion.

On November 10, 2004, ZipRealty, Inc.'s Initial Public Offering raised $59.2 million after the company's shares priced above the anticipated range.

In 2005 ZipRealty significantly expanded its market coverage with the addition of Las Vegas, Houston, and Miami. Throughout the year, ZipRealty implemented several exciting features to its website as part of a continual investment in the customer experience. It introduced a Spanish language version of the website to accommodate what is now one of the fastest growing segments of homeowners in the United States. ZipRealty also implemented live online chat with ZipAgents and began offering satellite images of home listings. Finally, it improved its search functionality by developing an interactive mapping system that allows customers to search for homes by school district, by proximity to a specified address, or by drawing a search area directly on a map.

At the end of 2005, ZipRealty had more than 30,000 closed clients whose purchases and sales totaled more than 11 billion dollars. This incredible growth has occurred while the company has maintained a customer satisfaction rating of 95%.

In 2006, ZipRealty further expanded its coverage areas with the opening of Tampa and Orlando districts and has announced Minneapolis (mid-summer) and Austin (3rd quarter) openings late in 2006.