Interest in Myrtle Beach real estate surged over 24%

Consumer interest in real estate surged in July with significant month-over-month increases in both traffic (29%) and time spent on site (26%) on Realtor.com (1), the #1 homes-for-sale-site. In fact, year-over-year page views on Realtor.com and the Move Network increased by 22% and 11% respectively (1), as consumers spent more time searching properties in popular and unexpected metro areas than this time last year.

Local markets in July experiencing the largest year-over-year percentage increases in consumer searches on Realtor.com included Stockton-Lodi, CA (140.9%), Las Vegas, NV (93.9%), Fort Myers-Cape Coral, FL (69.5%), Detroit, MI (51.8%) and Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV, VA (49.1%) Myrtle Beach, SC (24.6%)
As interest in local real estate markets picks up, consumers actively engaged in real estate search continue to invest their time on Realtor.com and on the Move Network
"As interest in local real estate markets picks up, consumers actively engaged in real estate search continue to invest their time on Realtor.com and on the Move Network," said Lorna Borenstein, president of Move, Inc. "The fact that consumers are spending significantly more time on Realtor.com than with many of the next closest competitors confirms they're looking to us to provide reliable and comprehensive content, access to the largest and most accurate listing database on Realtor.com, and valuable home buying resources. While finding interesting and entertaining information on real estate Web sites is fun, Move is committed to delivering the most current, reliable and useful real estate data that consumers need and expect from the trusted leader."

Borenstein continues by pointing out year-over-year traffic on Realtor.com increased by 9.5%, despite the fact that traffic within the real estate category declined by 1%, and consumers spent 24.7% more time in July on Realtor.com than on the next closest competitor (1).

During the company's second quarter 2008 earnings call, Move announced registrations on Realtor.com Beta increased by 60%, while three times the number of consumers received email alerts with updated information about their saved searches as compared to registrations on the "classic" site. The company also reported personalized alerts have shown a better than 50% click-through rate, driving consumers back to view Realtor.com content and advertising.