General Internet usage in December rose more than 20 percent when compared with December, 1999, an impressive increase yet one overshadowed almost three-to-one by online growth in the real estate sector.

According to Media Metrix, an independent and oft-quoted Internet research firm, Web usage in December reached 79.2 million "unique visitors," an increase of 21.6 percent over the previous December. In contrast, traffic at the top 10 realty sites grew 60.8 percent in the same period.

Unique visitors, says Media Metrix, are "the number of total users who visited the reported Web site or online property at least once in the given month. All unique visitors are unduplicated (only counted once)." More than 60,000 individuals nationwide participated in the Media Metrx study.

Not only are most major real estate sites growing faster than the Internet generally, they are making up an increasingly-large share of online traffic.

In December, 1999, for example, Media Metrix says that unique online visitors amounted to 65 million people. Traffic to the top 10 realty sites represented 7.3 percent of this total. By December, 2000, the top ten realty sites captured 9.6 percent of all online visitors.

There were also important signs of both growth and change within the top ten realty sites:

1. While only one site topped a million visitors in December, 1999, three made the grade in 2000 -- Realtor.com, HomeAdvisor, and HomeStore.

2. Several new sites jointed the top ten: Move.com was not ranked among the top 10 in 1999, but made it to #4 this December. ApartmentGuide.com, also not on the list last year, is now ranked #9. In contrast, AHAMembership.com and RealEstate.com dropped from the top 10 rankings.

3. Not all top-ten sites saw an increase in unique visitors. According to Media Metrix, SpringStreet usage declined from 408,000 unique visitors in December, 1999 to 400,000 unique visitors in the last month of 2000, a 2 percent drop. HomeGain, says Media Metrix, had 431,000 unique visitors in December, 1999, compared with 323,000 in December, 2000, a 25 percent decline.

4. Because of sector growth, it took more traffic to make the top-ten list in 2000. A site could get on with 226,000 visitors in 1999, but needed 323,000 this last December.

5. Realtor.com was ranked #1 both years, and saw traffic increase 43.4 percent. HomeAdvisor, #2 both years, is closing the gap with a traffic increase of 118.9 percent.

6. Homestore, which had 307,000 unique visitors in December, 1999, had a substantial increase in usage, with unique traffic up 388.3 percent.

What does it all mean?

First, a significant and growing segment of all Internet activity relates to real estate.

Second, HomeStore has a commanding presence among the top-ten sites. It operates Realtor.com under a license with the National Association of Realtors, acquired Move.com during the year, operates HomeBuilder.com for the National Association of HomeBuilders, and owns SpringStreet.com and HomeFair.com. In effect, HomeStore owns or operates five of the top 10 sites.

Third, new strategies at HomeAdvisor paid off with triple-digit growth. The site announced during the past year that it had received $100 million in new capital, is developing the Realty Desktop transaction platform, and has established alliances with a series of major industry players.

Fourth, given current growth patterns, it's possible that both HomeStore and HomeAdvisor could attract more visitors within the coming year than current-leader Realtor.com. No doubt many people in real estate will be watching the Media Metrix numbers to see who leads the pack in the coming months.

For more articles by Peter G. Miller, please press here

Published: January 30, 2001

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Peter G. Miller, also known as OurBroker®, is the author of six real estate books -- including The Common-Sense Mortgage -- and is the original creator and host of America Online's Real Estate Center. Peter's weekly columns appear in more than 100 newspapers nationwide, he is also published in a variety of other media outlets and he is a frequent speaker at national events and conventions. Peter welcomes your questions, comments, and news releases via e-mail at .