Market Insight screenshot
As a long-time provider of New York City listings, market data, reports and research, CityRealty is no stranger in giving its users a full bite of Big Apple real estate. To take it to the next level, the team has launched Market Insight, a page intended to better organize data for the audience while incorporating new architectural editorial features and a page with tips for buyers.
Much like the rest of CityRealty’s site, Market Insight is clean, functional and bright. Five sections delineate data, reports, design, resources and the existing blog, 6sqft.
Gabby Warshawer, director of research for CityRealty, dives deeper in Market Insight, contrasts with CityRealty’s news blog and explains how the team used NYC as inspiration for their web design.
Some of Warshawer’s comments may be edited for clarity.
What prompted the CityRealty team to come out with Market Insight?
We had a version of this before, but we wanted to redesign to have more of a clearing house for different types of content related to the New York City real estate market. Now, we have sort of six buckets in the market insights section.
- The first one is features — this is our longer-form articles about the market.
- The second main section is market data, which is charts and graphs based on recent closings about price trends and fluctuations.
- The third section is market reports and research for the reports we regularly put out on the condo market in NYC.
- The fourth section is sort of a mirror of our blog, 6sqft, which has a standalone site.
- And the fifth section is Carter’s view, who worked for decades at The New York Times and The New York Post writing about real estate and architecture.
- The final section is general resources and guides, which includes tips about how to buy and so and so forth.
We had most of these different strands of content before but we wanted to consolidate — that’s what really prompted it.
How does Market Insight differ from CityRealty’s blog, 6sqft?
6sqft is really the day’s news and sort of operates in a similar fashion to a Curbed or The Real Deal, although it has its own spin and a more interior design and arts focus, whereas resources and guides are really pitched to people who are perhaps more casual observers of the market.
Can you explain some of the new features — specifically how the price graphs, market data and reports are laid out in a more consumer-friendly way?
That’s what we’re hoping for. Market Insight is easier to navigate. It’s easier for people who are just interested in looking at price trends and graphs – to poke around and look at that. People who are more interested in reading an article on affordable housing — a well-written article — can find that in the features section.
Carter Horsley, CityRealty’s current editor and former architecture critic from The New York Times, is contributing features on design and neighborhood aesthetic. Is this something CityRealty has been thinking of adding for a while?
There was an earlier iteration of the site where Carter’s stuff lived on its own. As we added different features and market data, it got lost. Now, he has his own section. It was something we had been thinking about for a while. It’s really nice that a lot of his stuff in streetscapes and aesthetics. He’s a wealth of knowledge in the area.
How does CityRealty imagine Market Insight better assisting buyers, sellers and agents navigate the New York City real estate market?
We’re hoping that the information is pretty transparent for people who want to know what the current price of a condo is. They are two clicks away from that in the market data and market reports section. We’re hoping for prospective buyers and agents, that is a useful tool. I think it’s easier to find and hone in on now than before. Even though we had a lot of that before, it’s easier to pinpoint now on the site and section.
Anything else you’d like to add about the launch of Market Insight?
Thinking about the Web design aspect of it, we really tried to play up strong visuals. There’s so much romance associated with the architecture and cityscape of New York. With these really large photos and features in the articles, the audience gets a really good idea of that. It’s visually pleasing.