Apr 23
Property search site Realtor.com has launched a mobile application for the Apple iPad, site operator Move Inc. announced today.
Also today, the company announced the newest update to its iPhone app, which makes the iPad and iPhone apps more similar in appearance.
Realtor.com stepped into the mobile space in January 2010 with the launch of its iPhone app. Ten months later, the site released apps for the Android and Windows 7 operating systems. Combined, the apps have been downloaded 3.6 million times, the company said. Active users jumped 79 percent from December through March.
The rise of mobile is changing the home shopping experience for consumers and agents, said Move CEO Steve Berkowitz.
“It’s going to continue to push the evolution of marketing offline to online. You think about the signposts in the lawn and marketing in the Sunday paper — those things are no longer necessary with apps like these,” he said.
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Tags: App
Apr 18
The full-service real estate brokerage model has emerged from the downturn largely intact, defying expectations that traditional companies would face stiff competition from brokerages offering commission rebates and discounts or a menu of fee-based services.
When information about property listings and housing markets once available only to Realtors started to become accessible over the Internet more than a decade ago, many predicted that innovation and competition among brokerages would drive down commissions paid by consumers.
If homeowners could market their properties online, the thinking went, more sellers would list with limited service brokers offering a menu of services including “MLS only” listings. And if buyers could go online to find their ideal home, why pay a Realtor full commission to chauffeur them around town?
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Apr 13
Inflation fears this week abruptly gave way to concern for the economy, with long-term rates and stocks dipping accordingly. Overriding all financial news: The miraculous outbreak of an authentic effort to repair the nation’s finances.
One at a time: By the end of last week, inflation worrywarts had begun to expect Federal Reserve tightening this year. On Monday, Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman Janet Yellen and New York Federal Reserve President Bill Dudley blew them up altogether. Fed tightening now is inconceivable.
Forecasters have called for 4 percent-plus U.S. Gross Domestic Product growth, but a crowd is elbowing for the exit, revising suddenly as low as 1.5 percent. March retail sales were soggy, a 0.4 percent gain and only 0.1 percent ex-gasoline.
New claims for unemployment insurance spiked 27,000 to 412,000 last week, the highest in two months.
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Tags: Economy, Economy Live
