Move.com and Trulia are trying to turn the spotlight from publicity-lavished Zillow with new weekly and monthly reports, respectively, that hone in on consumers' interests in the least/most expensive houses, "Best of" lists, and other features.

Move.com's reports are called Move Trend Spot. The site promises "Top 10" and "Best of" lists, articles and other insights into real estate consumer behavior. Featuring information on both homes for sale and rentals, Move Trend Spot will showcase such topics as top luxury and most affordable homes, rent comparisons, and great deals.

Realtors pay no additional charge for any Trend Spot features, says Move.com.

"Trend Spot is based on the most relevant facts, news and trends based on breath and depth of information Move Inc. provides," says a spokesperson. "We access our database of consumer response combined with properties, new home developments and rentals to find the featured trends.

"Trend Spot is designed to provide a visual snapshot of consumer popularity, interest and demand for real estate properties across the nation and as a value add for consumers and customers."

Move.com plans to release a new Trend Spot fact, article or chart every Tuesday, says the company. "Outreaching to media first, our ultimate goal is to provide a weekly consumer-oriented feature," explains the spokesperson.

Trulia's Trends Report, announced only two days after Move.com's Trend Spot, is available for download. Like Move.com, (do these sites have double-agent spies in each other's headquarters?) Trulia's reports contain consumer search trends online, with "Top 10" data, hottest cities, biggest losers, and "dreams and deals." Also, like Move.com, Trulia Trends Report is designed to garner publicity for the site in the form of monthly press releases.

The East dominated February’s hottest cities chart with Manhattan, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Washington, D.C., and Queens all making the top 10. Southern cities of Virginia Beach, VA, Memphis, TN and Charleston, SC, were three of the five biggest winners in month-over-month median list prices increases.

Los Angeles experienced a 3.6 percent increase in median list price (month-over-month), while other cities in the western U.S., including Mesa, AZ, and Colorado Springs, CO, saw large increases in search queries.

The Midwest saw some volatility in their search queries with Minneapolis experiencing a 50 percent month-over-month increase, while both Naperville, IL, and Cincinnati, OH, were part of the top five "biggest losers" in terms of search queries.

Of special interest is Trulia's city spotlight. This month Phoenix is highlighted. Divided into neighborhoods by name - a departure from most searches except for Realty Times' Market Conditions Reports, Phoenix homebuyers can shop for homes from southernmost Ahwatukee all the way north to Desert Hills. Hottest neighborhoods were in North and Central Phoenix. Downtown, gained 30 percent more search queries month-over-month.

The typical search for Phoenix was for a single-family 3.2 bedroom, 2.4 bath 1911 sq. ft. home at $551,078.

The average search list price on Trulia for the month of February was $450,873, 0.6 percent less than in January. The median sales price from October - December was $230,000, up 6.4 percent year-over-year.

Trulia's information is gathered from the 100 cities with the most volume in searches.

Both Move Trend Spot and Trulia Trends Report make for fun reading, but the information has little use for consumers without complimentary data -- such as what local MLSs or the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight says are average home prices compared to the home prices of most searched homes. Are consumers buying what they search or window-shopping their dream homes? How do home searches compare to actual sales? Do the most-searched homes sell more quickly? What criteria do most-researched homes have in common -- features or better agent presentations?

If and when the trend reports show "legs" that they are either widely picked up by the media and/or command consumer traffic on their own, there could be more information added. Until then, just enjoy the trend reports as proprietary information that's comes from site-generated metrics.

Published: April 9, 2007

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Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.