Yahoo Real Estate and Realtor.com continue their competitive dance for most popular real estate website.
Yahoo Real Estate once again overtook Realtor.com as the most visited real estate-related website in November, according to the latest report from Web metrics firm Experian Hitwise. The report’s data is based on a sample of 10 million U.S. Internet users.
The two sites have been revolving through the top spot since August, when Yahoo Real Estate displaced Realtor.com from that position for the first time in the monthly report’s three-year history. Yahoo Real Estate retained that spot in September; Realtor.com reclaimed it in October.
Both sites surpassed 6 percent market share in November. Yahoo Real Estate’s market share jumped to 6.95 percent from 5.87 percent in October. Realtor.com’s market share grew somewhat more slowly, to 6.28 percent from 5.99 percent in October.
Zillow, Trulia and Rent.com retained the No. 3, 4 and 5 spots they have held since July 2010. Market share for each was little changed from the month before: Zillow at 4.45 percent; Trulia, 3.63 percent; and Rent.com, 2.45 percent.
In a separate announcement today, Zillow reported its traffic had surpassed 13 million unique users in December — the most in any month since the company’s launch in 2006 and a 77 percent year-over-year jump from December 2009. Traffic was measured by Omniture.
In the Hitwise report, ZipRealty (with 2.26 percent market share), Homes.com (2.09 percent) and MSN Real Estate (1.81 percent) also kept their spots from October: Nos. 6, 7 and 8, respectively.
MyNewPlace (1.45 percent) made it to the top 10 at No. 9 in November, moving up from No. 11 and bumping FrontDoor Real Estate, which left the top 20. Apartment Guide (1.47 percent) stayed at No. 10.
The rest of the top 20 saw a lot of upward movement in November. Apartments.com took the No.11 spot, up from No. 13. ForRent.com took the No. 12 spot, up from No. 14. Rentals.com moved up to No.13 from No. 16 and RE/MAX Real Estate moved up one spot to No. 14.
LoopNet and RealtyStore.com each jumped three spots to 15th and 16th in the rankings, respectively. Move.com kept its No. 17 spot.
Century 21 Real Estate moved into the top 20 once again, to No. 18 from No. 21. Listingbook Services broke into the top 20 at No. 19 from the No. 23 spot. HUD.gov retained its No. 20 rank.
The top 10 "real estate" category websites received 32.7 percent of category traffic in November, up from 31.6 percent in October. The top 20 websites accounted for 42.4 percent of visits, down slightly from 42.5 percent in October. The top 100 sites saw 70.7 percent of visits in November, down slightly from 71.2 percent the month before.
Six sites joined the top 100 in November: Section 8 Assistance, www.echeapapartments.com, Bluegreen, LandAndFarm.com, www.rentsavers.com, and Estately.
These sites displaced RentedSpaces, First Preston – HUD Special Property Auction, Realestatebook.com, Owners.com, Rentspeed.com, and Affordable Housing Online.
The average visit to this category lasted 8 minutes, 53 seconds in November, up slightly from 8 minutes, 48 seconds in October.
The top 10 most popular real estate-related search terms in November were, in order, "realtor.com," "zillow," "apartments for rent," "realtor," "remax," "zillow.com," "century 21," "homes for sale," "real estate," and "houses for rent." All except "realtor.com," which represented 1.39 percent of clicks to real estate-related sites, accounted for less than 1 percent of all clicks.
Fast-moving real estate-related websites in November included Overstock Real Estate (up 74 places to No. 135); Home Rental – Residential Property Management (up 188 places to No. 348); limo.elliman.com (up 273 places to No. 547); Marriott Grand Residence Club (up 755 places to No. 1,503); AllCheckDeals.com (up 531 places to No. 1,433); LANDflip (up 55 places to No. 176); Property Line (up 227 places to No. 754); Lands of Texas (up 47 places to No. 160); Hilton Grand Vacations Club (up 48 places to No. 175); and RealtyBid (up 36 places to No. 134).
