The top 20 real estate Web sites on the Internet are well entrenched, but there’s still lots of “churn” among the top 100, according to the latest numbers from Hitwise.
So far this year, the top eight real estate Web sites as ranked by Hitwise have maintained their positions, and only one newcomer has been able to break into the top 10 list. There are only two new sites in the Hitwise top 20 list.
But Hitwise, which ranks sites according to their market share of total visits based on a sample of 10 million Internet users, reported an 8 percent “churn” among the top 100 real estate Web sites in April. That means eight of the top 100 real estate Web sites in March were ousted by newcomers in April.
Making the top 100 list is a significant achievement because those sites hog more than two-thirds of traffic in the category, or 69.6 percent, according to Hitwise.
Two sites that came out of nowhere to break into the top 100 were eppraisal.com and the MRMLS Central Site, Hitwise reported.
The site eppraisal.com, which uses public records to generate automated home valuations and provides referrals to real estate professionals, debuted at number 50 in April. MRMLS (Multi-Regional Multiple Listing Service Inc.), a provider of MLS technology and electronic data exchange between member associations, was ranked the 65th most visited site by Hitwise. Neither site was ranked in March.
Another fast-moving Web site tracked by Hitwise, ActiveRain Real Estate Network, threatened to break into the top 100, moving up 78 places in April to 120. The free online community for real estate professionals started the year with about 400 companies ahead of it.
Previously ranked sites that broke into the Hitwise top 100 in April included PropertyValueHub (ranked 60th), MostChoice.com (78), HomeScape.com (93), MLSlistings (94), First Preston HUD Special Property Auction (96) and Michaelson Connor & Boul (99).
Sites falling out of the Hitwise top 100 real estate sites included Realtor.org (101), the home of the National Association of Realtors, ranked 89 in March, and virtual tour provider Real Estate Shows (113), which was ranked 100th in March.
If the top 100 Web real estate sites capture most of the traffic associated with home buying and apartment rentals, traffic is even more concentrated in the top 10 Web sites, which claim 28.4 percent of all visits in the category.
So far this year, the top eight positions on the Hitwise top 10 list have remained static, with Realtor.com (1), RealtyTrac (2), Homegain (3), Rent.com (4), RE/MAX Real Estate (5), Yahoo! Real Estate (6), Zillow (7) and Apartments.com (8) maintaining their dominance.
But competition for ninth and 10th place on the Hitwise top 10 list remained fierce.
Coldwell Banker Real Estate (10), which was ranked 17th in March, broke into the top 10 in April, while Move.com (11) was bumped out. ZipRealty moved up from 10th place to regain the ninth place standing it held in January and February.
Century 21 Real Estate, which fell off the top 10 list in February, held steady in April in 12th place.
The top 20 is not a bad place to be, however, with companies ranked 11th through 20th siphoning off up 12.4 percent of real estate traffic. VisualTour.com, one of only two new companies in Hitwise’s top 20 list so far this year, fell from 15th to 16th place. ForeclosureStore, which was 28th at the start of the year and 18th last month, moved up one position.
The top 10 real estate search terms for the month were realtor.com, remax, apartments, real estate, homes for sale, century 21, coldwell banker, apartments for rent, zillow and remax.com.
Hitwise top 20 Real Estate sites
Source: Hitwise
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