Nielsen//NetRatings, reported that the continued interest in home and rental properties compelled 21.6 mln Web surfers, or 15% of the active Internet population, to visit a real estate or apartment site during April 2005, spiking 26% from 17.1 mln visitors six months ago.
The top 10 real estate and apartment sites collectively grew 54% from 8.2 mln during November 2004 to 12.6 mln visitors during April 2005, driven by today?s hot real estate market. Realtor.com, which boasted more than two mln listings, attracted the largest audience with close to six mln unique visitors, compared to second-place Home Gain, which drew more than three mln unique visitors in April 2005. AOL Real Estate, rounding out the top three sites, enticed nearly three mln prospective home buyers and renters to browse online listings and read articles; as a result, the site skyrocketed 212%. ForSaleByOwner.com drew nearly a mln unique visitors, jumping 142% from six months prior, suggesting consumers are taking home selling into their own hands.
Most popular real estate |
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Unique audience, thousands of visitors |
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Site | April 2005 | Nov 2004 | Growth, % |
Realtor.com | 5,753 | 4,270 | 35% |
Home Gain | 3,133 | 2,356 | 33% |
AOL Real Estate | 2,670 | 855 | 212% |
RealtyTrac | 1,515 | 782 | 94% |
Rent.com | 1,366 | 733 | 86% |
Yahoo! Real Estate | 1,320 | 806 | 64% |
Century 21 | 1,132 | 604 | 87% |
forsalebyowner.com | 990 | 409 | 142% |
RealEstate.com | 893 | 628 | 42% |
RentNet | 890 | 603 | 48% |
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings |