Zillow Says One Number, Your Agent Says Another. Here Is Why, Smithtown
*If you have pulled up three different websites and gotten three different numbers for what your Smithtown home is worth, you are not doing anything wrong. That is just how these tools work.*
Homeowners email me screenshots all the time. One site says your place is worth $675,000. Another says $854,000. A neighbor's appraisal came in somewhere else entirely. None of them are lying to you. They are just answering different questions.
What an online estimate actually measures
Sites like Zillow and Redfin run automated models against public records and recent sales. Right now Zillow puts the typical home value in Smithtown at $675,006, while Redfin's tracking shows a median sale price per square foot of $406, up 6.6 percent from last year. Same town, same week, different math, different answer.
These tools cannot walk through your kitchen. They do not know you redid the roof last year or that your basement floods every spring. An automated estimate is a good starting point but will not factor in recent renovations, unique features, or subjective market perception. Treat it as a rough compass, not a price tag.
A CMA looks at what actually sold near you
When an agent builds you a Comparative Market Analysis, we are not running a formula. A CMA evaluates similar homes that have recently sold in the same area, and in most cases an agent finds three homes that are as similar to and as close to yours as possible. We adjust for the differences: a finished basement here, an extra bathroom there, a bigger lot down the street.
This matters more in a market like ours right now. Smithtown homes are currently receiving multiple offers on average and selling in around 22 to 28 days, which means the comps from six months ago may already be stale. A CMA done this month will read differently than one done in January.
Appraisals work on the same core idea but with more formality. An appraiser inspects the property, measures the footprint, and researches sales from the immediate neighborhood before selecting the closest comparables. Lenders require this step because the home acts as collateral for the mortgage, so the bank needs its own independent number, not yours or your agent's.
Why the Smithtown number keeps moving
Part of the confusion this year is that the market itself has been moving fast. One recent three month snapshot showed Smithtown's median sale price near $853,559, up 6.7 percent year over year, with price per square foot up 16.5 percent. Homes have also been selling at roughly 102.5 percent of list price, meaning list price and actual value are not always the same thing either.
Inventory plays into this too. Suffolk County saw improvement in listings this spring after very tight conditions earlier in the year, and more inventory tends to slow price growth even before it shows up in the median. None of this means the online number is wrong. It just means it is answering last month's question, not this week's.
If you want a number that accounts for your actual house, not just your zip code, that is what a real CMA is for. Check your rough number anytime at /my-home-value/, or send me your specific situation at /askmuds and I will walk through it with you.