Since one of your main goals as a real estate professional is to make your website as “sticky” as possible – to make people stay longer on your site and return for future visits, adding market reports and recently sold properties to your agent website makes a lot of sense.

Market reports also have the added benefit of adding depth to your website. The more interactive your real estate site is, the more you fill it with relevant tools and information, the more attractive it becomes to clients and to prospects.

Our real estate sites include built-in market reports (except for non-disclosure states and counties, where this service is not available). Using tax record information and graphs provided by Zillow, your clients can run an instant report showing them all of the recent home sales in their neighborhood.

If this tool is available in your state, do remember to take advantage of it. It is one of the best tools we offer for keeping clients engaged and interested in your real estate website.

Enhance your Agent Website with Market Reports is a post from: Properties Online Blog

• More than one third of buyers began their search for a home by looking online for properties for sale.
• 90% of home buyers used the Internet as one of the information sources in their home search process.
• The Internet continues to be increasingly popular among all homebuyers, while traditional real estate marketing methods such as print media are declining.
• In 2009, 36 percent of buyers reported that they found their home online, up from 32 percent in 2008.

How Buyers Search for Property
Information Sources used in Home Search

It’s important for real estate professionals to understand that the Internet is not replacing them. On the contrary – according to the NAR study, 89% of buyers who used the Internet, also used a real estate agent. And the vast majority of homebuyers still purchase their home through a real estate agent.

It’s not that the Internet is replacing agents, but agents who want to stay current and on top of their game need to harness the power of the Internet and use it as part of their real estate marketing campaigns.

The Home Search Process is Moving Online is a post from: Properties Online Blog

The average 15-year fixed and jumbo 30-year fixed mortgage rates dropped by equal amounts, to 4.74 percent and 6.34 percent, respectively. Adjustable rate mortgages were mixed, with the average 1-year ARM rising to 5.15 percent and the 5-year ARM inching lower to 4.94 percent.

As concerns about the sustainability of an economic rebound gained steam, mortgage rates retreated to levels last seen in May. Ironically, these worries came about despite a number of upbeat economic releases, including reports on manufacturing, consumer sentiment, and pending home sales. But weakness in consumer spending and growth in household income prompted investors to move from stocks to the safety of government bonds. Mortgage rates are closely related to the yields on long-term government bonds.

Mortgage rates are more than one full percentage point lower than one year ago. This time last year, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.55 percent, meaning a $200,000 loan would have carried a monthly payment of $1,270.72. With the average rate now 5.41 percent, the monthly payment for the same size loan would be $1,124.31, a savings of $146 per month for a homeowner refinancing now.

SURVEY RESULTS

30-year fixed: 5.41% — down from 5.53% last week (avg. points: 0.27)

15-year fixed: 4.74% — down from 4.83% last week (avg. points: 0.25)

5/1 ARM: 4.94% — down from 4.95% last week (avg. points: 0.32)

Bankrate’s national weekly mortgage survey is conducted each Wednesday from data provided by the top 10 banks and thrifts in the top 10 markets.

For a full analysis of this week’s move in mortgage rates, go to http://www.bankrate.com/mortgagerates

The survey is complemented by Bankrate’s weekly forward-looking Rate Trend Index, in which a panel of mortgage experts predicts which way the rates are headed over the next 30 to 45 days. Half of the panelists expect mortgage rates to fall further during that timeframe. Among the remaining respondents, 29 percent predict an increase in rates and 21 percent forecast that rates will remain more or less unchanged in the next 30 to 45 days.

For the full mortgage Rate Trend Index, go to http://www.bankrate.com/RTI

About Bankrate, Inc.

The Bankrate network of companies includes Bankrate.com, Interest.com, Mortgage-calc.com, Nationwide Card Services, Savingforcollege.com, Fee Disclosure, InsureMe, CreditCardGuide.com and Bankaholic.com. Each of these businesses helps consumers make informed decisions about their personal finance matters. The company’s flagship brand, Bankrate.com is a destination site of personal finance channels, including banking, investing, taxes, debt management and college finance. Bankrate.com is the leading aggregator of rates and other information on more than 300 financial products, including mortgages, credit cards, new and used auto loans, money market accounts and CDs, checking and ATM fees, home equity loans and online banking fees. Bankrate.com reviews more than 4,800 financial institutions in 575 markets in 50 states. In 2008, Bankrate.com had nearly 72 million unique visitors. Bankrate.com provides financial applications and information to a network of more than 75 partners, including Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO), America Online (NYSE: TWX), The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times (NYSE: NYT). Bankrate.com’s information is also distributed through more than 500 newspapers.

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