Zillow eked out a tiny edge over Yahoo Real Estate in February to reclaim its title as the second-most visited real estate site on the Web, according to rankings compiled by Web metrics firm Hitwise.
Zillow, which was bumped into third place by Yahoo Real Estate in December, captured 3.43 percent of traffic in the real estate category during February, Hitwise said, compared to 3.4 percent for Yahoo Real Estate.
Realtor.com retained its top spot on the Hitwise top 10 list, with 6.67 percent of traffic in the category.
Rent.com, ZipRealty, Trulia.com, Homes.com, MSN Real Estate, Service Magic and MyNewPlace rounded out the Hitwise Top 10, with MSN Real Estate moving up one position, to eighth.
Cumulatively, the top 10 sites captured 28.7 percent of traffic in the real estate category. All told, 39.6 percent of traffic in the category went to the top 20 sites.
Vacation rental Web site HomeAway continued a steady climb from 41st place in December and 24th place in January to break into the Hitwise top 20 in February at 19th.
Real estate brokerage Redfin — which made its debut on the Hitwise top 20 in May 2009, along with MSN Real Estate — gained one position in February to claim the last spot on the top 20 list.
Among the top 20 sites, RE/MAX Real Estate rose one place to 11th, bumping Apartments.com into 12th. Rentals.com displaced Apartment Guide in 13th place, and Century 21 Real Estate climbed into 15th place. Also climbing one position in the rankings were ForRent.com (16th) and Listingbook Services (17th), while HUD.gov fell three positions to 18th.
Homegain and RealtyStore.com were bumped from the Hitwise top 20 to make room for HomeAway and Redfin.
Eight sites entered the top 100: Postlets (68th), JustListed.com (88th), Home Listing Finder (91st), California Association of Realtors (96th), Obeo (97th), Garden State MLS (98th), My Realtor (99) and FloridaMoves.com.
Sites falling out of the top 100 were Affordable Housing Online (102nd), i-RealEstateagents.com (109th), RealCompOnline.com (117th), GoSection8.com (114th), Candy Hallstead (107th), Todd Lands — Ann Arbor Real Estate (104th); USAMLS.net (106th); and Monmouth County Association of Realtors (120th).
Fast-moving sites included Meyer Real Estate (up 53 places to 193rd); Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate (up 69 places to 214th); Prudential Georgia Realty (up 338 places to 517th); Garrett Realty Services, (up 155 places to 607th); Hilton Head Island MLS (up 190 places to 681st); Atlantic Realty (up 232 places to 778th); Outer Banks Blue Realty (up 211 places to 818th); Destin Vacation Rentals (up 208 places to 829th); CapitalAreaHomes.com (up 262 places to 1,097); and Silver Shells Resort (up 291 places to 1,160).
The top 10 real estate-related search terms were "realtor.com," "zillow," "apartments for rent," "real estate," "zillow.com," "remax," "century 21," "houses for rent," "homes for sale," and "houses for sale."
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