Inman

3 sites join real estate top-20 rankings

Reply.com, Move.com and WhiteFence.com joined the top-20 list of real estate-related Web sites in December, climbing several spots from the previous month, online metrics company Hitwise reported today.

Reply.com, an online lead-generation and marketing company, moved from 21st to 17th in the rankings, housing search site Move.com from 22nd to 19th, and utilities and home services price-comparison site WhiteFence.com from 24th to 20th.

ColdwellBanker.com, LoopNet.com and VisualTour.com were on the top-20 list in November but did not rank among the top 20 in December.

The monthly Hitwise rankings are based on U.S. market share of visits to real estate sites from a sample of 10 million U.S. Internet users.

Rankings did not change for the top five sites on the list from November to December. Realtor.com topped the list with 6.7 percent market share, up from 6.43 percent in November.

Yahoo Real Estate’s (realestate.yahoo.com) market share dipped from 4.64 percent in November to 4.12 percent in December.

Zillow.com ranked third, with a 2.98 percent market share (compared with 2.7 percent in November), followed by: ZipRealty.com (2.63 percent); Rent.com (1.91 percent); ServiceMagic.com (1.81 percent); REMAX.com (1.78 percent); HUD.gov (1.71 percent); HomeGain.com (1.59 percent); and Trulia.com (1.4 percent).

Hitwise ranked 3,122 Web sites in the real estate category in December, and about 66.1 percent of all traffic to that category went to the top-100 sites. The average visit duration to category Web sites was 11 minutes, 47 seconds in December, up from 11 minutes, 34 seconds in November.

Sites that joined the Hitwise top-100 real estate category rankings in December include: Houses-JustListed.com (51st in December); FreeForeclosureReport.com (55th); Westfield.com.au (66th); WyndhamVacationResorts.com (85th); Movoto.Foreclosure.com (87th); Landwatch.com (90th); GoSection8.com (95th); ApartmentFinder.com (96th); RealtyBid.com (98th); and Sublet.com (100th).

Sites that left the top-100 rankings in December include: JohnLaingHomes.com, Homes-JustListed.com, ForeclosuresToGo.com, Enormo.com, TheVillages.com, ForeclosureToGo.com, Cyberhomes.com, NHMSI.com, RentalHouses.com, HarmonHomes.com.

Among the most popular search terms that brought traffic to real estate category sites during the four-week period that ended Dec. 27: "Realtor.com," "remax," "zillow," "real estate," "apartments for rent," "zillow.com," "realtor," "century 21," "coldwell banker," "and realtor.com," Hitwise reported.

Fast-moving real estate Web sites — those that climbed the most in rankings during a four-month period ending in December — include: VacationsOnly.com (up 928 places), HomesandEstatesOnline.com (774 places), NateFind.com (569 places), C21Birchwood.com (472 places), Stribling.com (454 places), HalogenGuides.com (229 places), KCCLLC.net (146 places), CarletonSheets.com (91 places), ApartmentHomeLiving.com (45 places), and the National Association of Realtors’ Realtor.org (25 places).

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