WSJ.com: Home inventory up 1.3% from last month

As reported on in the Wall Street Journal today, the total number of home listings in 29 metro areas at the end of April increased 1.3% from a month earlier. Here is the full article.

$100M in customer rebates and counting!

Late last month, we reached a huge milestone. Since the company was founded in 1999, we’ve given our customers back over $100,000,000 in rebates. Coupled with a 95% customer satisfaction rate, we’re very proud to have reached this milestone!

Here is a breakdown of what our customers have spent their rebates on:

What would you do with $100 Million?

To celebrate, we’re giving away a 52” LCD television. All you need to do is to tell us what you would do with $100M!

Simply create a video that is 15 to 120 seconds long and upload it to the ZipRealty contest page on YouTube. All contest entries must be received by June 15, 2008. Anyone is eligible to enter. Here are the official rules to the contest.

We want to thank the tens of thousands of clients who got us here. We are looking forward to seeing your video submissions. Dream big and maybe you’ll win a TV!

What do home buyers think of the current real estate market?

Based on our research, today’s buyers remain bearish on prices, with 61% anticipating declines over the next six months, while wild differences exist among ZipRealty’s markets:

• 82% of buyers in Los Angeles think prices will decline
• 24% of buyers in Charlotte think prices will decline

Interestingly, buyers and sellers are almost exactly in sync in terms of how long they think the decline will last: 42% of each group thinks it will last 12 months or less, while 43% of buyers and 42% of sellers think the decline will last 1-2 years.

About our survey

These findings were collected in March as part of our quarterly market perception survey. This quarter’s survey, sent to prospective buyers who registered on our site in January and February generated 4570 responses. The answers in the table above were based on the question “what do you think will happen with home prices in your local real estate market over the next 6 months?”.

Stay tuned for insights into what today’s buyers are looking for in a home – information that should be particularly useful to the sellers out there!

WSJ.com: Home Inventory up 12% from Las Year

This morning's electronic version of the Wall Street Journal reported that home inventory rose 12% between the periods of March 2007 and March 2008. Using data from ZipRealty, it was also reported that home inventory grew 2.5% from February 2008 to March 2008.

Read the full story.

See an interactive housing inventory presentation.

More estimated home values on ZipRealty.com

For those of you who use our "Estimated Value" feature, we have some good news for you. We just added another home estimate partner to our website. Cyberhomes (a division of Fidelity National Financial) now provides their home estimates directly onto ZipRealty.com, in addition to the existing Zillow home value estimates.

This enhanced feature can be found on each home detail page, under the "Estimated Value" tab.  You don't need to do anything else to use this new tool - you should see both home value estimates listed on this page.

Living Green in 2008

Are you Interested in saving some energy at home?

We've put together a few tips that can help you save both energy and money. From something as simple as switching to energy efficient light bulbs to replacing your water filters, we hope these tips help!

Housing Inventory Figures from the WSJ & ZipRealty

Today's edition of the Wall Street Journal online features an article regarding the latest housing inventory figures across 29 markets in the United States. Housing inventory fell  7.1% from November '07 to December '07. Here is the full article.

 

ZipRealty rings the opening bell for NASDAQ

With the holiday season in full swing, you may have heard some bells ringing this morning. If you assumed that these were holiday bells, you would be incorrect. In fact, the bell ringing you may have heard was actually that of our CEO, Pat Lashinsky, ringing the NASDAQ stock market opening bell.

Request Property Disclosures on ZipRealty.com

We just launched a new feature on our site where you can request the property disclosure documents for a ZipRealty represented property directly on our site. If you are interested in a home and want to read the official property disclosures, simply click the link (on each individual property page), and you’ll be able to quickly submit your request.

Here is some background on the purpose of property disclosures:

When selling a home, a seller is required to disclose information about the condition of the home and any facts known to the seller that may affect the value of the property. These disclosures, along with other property information, constitute the property disclosures.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We want to wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!  View a special holiday greeting from ZipRealty along with links to some great holiday recipes!

                   2007 Thanksgiving card and special holiday recipes

The recipes are divided into four categories--Turkey, Stuffing, Condiments & Side Dishes along with Dessert.  All recipes were provided by ZipAgents from all around the country. Enjoy!

Have a wonderful and safe holiday!