Sell to New Movers--Direct Marketing, Mail Order, E-commerce News

Direct Marketing, Mail Order, and E-commerce News from the National Mail Order Association

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Sell to New Movers.

If you have a product or service to sell to home buyers, renters and new movers,

consider this information for advertising.

Real Estate and Apartment Web Sites Jump 26 Percent During Past Six Months,
According to Nielsen//NetRatings Lower-Income Households Capture Fastest
Growing Group at Online Real Estate Sites

Nielsen//NetRatings, the global standard for Internet audience measurement and
analysis, reported today that the continued interest in home and rental properties
compelled 21.6 million Web surfers, or 15 percent of the active Internet population,
to visit a real estate or apartment site during April 2005, spiking 26 percent from
17.1 million visitors six months ago.

The top 10 real estate and apartment sites collectively grew 54 percent from 8.2
million during November 2004 to 12.6 million visitors during April 2005,

driven by today's hot real estate market.

Realtor.com, which boasted more than two million listings, attracted the largest
audience with close to six million unique visitors, compared to second-place
Home Gain, which drew more than three million unique visitors in April 2005
(see Table 1). AOL Real Estate, rounding out the top three sites,

enticed nearly three million prospective home buyers and renters to browse
online listings and read articles; as a result, the site skyrocketed 212 percent.

ForSaleByOwner.com drew nearly a million unique visitors, jumping 142 percent
from six months prior, suggesting consumers are taking home selling into

their own hands.

“Savvy Internet users are leveraging online resources for real estate purchasing and
selling,” said Iris Cumberbatch, senior financial services analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings.
“Because of the widespread net cast by the Internet, home sellers are using local
online classifieds, such as Craigslist, to sell their homes, and home buyers are
accessing sites such as Realtor.com to conduct their own property research.”

“While most homes are still bought or sold via real estate agencies, consumers
surfing the Web have more direct and better access to real estate property

information than they had previously, arming them with information with which
they can make more informed buying or selling decisions,” continued Cumberbatch.

Table 1. Six-Month Growth of Top 10 Real Estate/Apartments Sites (U.S., Home & Work)

+--------------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------+

| Site | (000) | (000) | 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, May 2005

Making the Money Work

Nielsen//NetRatings reported an overall jump in visitors from all income brackets to real estate
and apartment sites during April 2005. Lower-income households earning up to $25K showed
the most significant growth with a million potential home buyers and renters viewing a real estate
or apartment site last month, marking a 47 percent leap during the past six months (see Table 2).

More than six million visitors, or the bulk of real estate surfers, earned a household income between
$50-$75K jumping 32 percent from November 2004.

Households with income of more than $150K rounded out the top three fastest growing income groups.

Table 2. Household Income of Real Estate/Apartments Site Visitors (U.S., Home & Work)

+-------------------+-----------------+-----------+

| | April 2005 | |

| | Unique Audience | Six-month |

| Household Income | (000) | Growth |

+-------------------+-----------------+-----------+

| $0-24,999 | 1,000 | 47% |

| $50,000-74,999 | 6,179 | 32% |

| $150,000+ | 2,254 | 29% |

| $75,000-99,999 | 3,983 | 24% |

| $100,000-149,999 | 3,919 | 22% |

| $25,000-49,999 | 3,966 | 20% |

+-------------------+-----------------+-----------+

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, May 2005

Cumberbatch added, “Given the less-than-stellar returns from the stock market, property
sales increased as an alternative investment to capitalize on the near historical low interest rates.
Tenured surfers were more comfortable searching online, especially in major metropolitan cities
where demand still exceeds the supply of available homes.”

Note: Looking for mailing lists of new movers? Contact John Schulte schulte@nmoa.org

for a list broker referral.
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