Zillow estimates - Bad for consumer?

I decided to take a short break from looking at QR codes in real estate to blog about Zillows accuracy in predicting a home price.

Last week at a presentation given by http://techsavvyagent.com Chris showed an audience of Realtors (who already hate zillow) a chart showing how off the mark they are.  The chart is available for anyone to view on Zillows site.  Here it is.

Being a local Phoenix guy that's house is under water, I love to know how much my house is worth and used to pop on to Zillow from time to time to check it out.  If I had known these stats then I would not have wasted my time.  This chart is the kind of ammunition that Realtors need when they walk into a prospects home that has just got their Zillow estimate.

Several great articles have been written talking about these very same accuracy charts. 

http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/zillow-accuracy-revealed.html

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/blog/business/2011/02/local-experts-dispute-zillows-housing.html

Morale of the story - You need a realtor to help you with your home value.