Real estate websites Zillow, Trulia merge

Zillow and Trulia, two of the largest online house hunting websites, are joining forces.

Zillow Inc. is purchasing its rival Trulia for $3.5 billion to make it the largest website for consumers looking for free information about homes for sales.

"Trulia and Zillow have a shared mission and vision of empowering consumers while helping real estate agents, brokerages and franchisors benefit from technological innovation. By working together, we will be able to create even more value for home buyers, sellers, and renters," Trulia CEO Pete Flint said.

Some real estate professionals believe the merger could mean Zillow and Trulia will do a better job with home values.

Chris Habitz with Capitol Real Estate in Burbank said neither website has been very accurate.

"It's basically looking at square footage and what it's sold," said Habitz, who noted the websites don't factor in upgrades and other positives.

Zillow's news release said there would be plenty of benefits from the merger, including faster innovation, greater access to real estate market data, broader distribution, more value for advertisers and corporate cost savings.

Ultimately, the companies said combining will drive more business to real estate professionals.

Some experts believe the role of the real estate agent could be diminished with the merger.

But Habitz hopes that's not the case and said initially the deal could be a good one.

"It will be good for marketing, so when we do list the property it will be on their site. It's more exposure," Habitz said.

Both Zillow and Trulia will maintain their brands.

Since the acquisition requires shareholder and regulatory approval, the deal is not expected to be finalized until late 2015.