Ratings Firm Reports RE Web Traffic

More than 12 million visitors, nearly 10% of the active online population, accessed real estate and rental websites in March as part of the homebuying and apartment rental process, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, New York.The top spot in the online ratings went to Realtor.com, with nearly 4.6 million unique visitors, with Homestore.com ranking second at 3.6 million and HomeGain third at 1.2 million, the Internet audience measurement firm said. "Real estate sites enable surfers to comparison-shop online for homes prior to committing to a single real estate agent or a single property," said Patrick Thomas, a senior Internet analyst with the company. "Real-time listings, virtual home tours, and finance calculators make these sites content-rich sources and help homebuyers become better informed throughout the search and purchase process." The company can be found online at http://www.nielsen-netratings.com.