Inman News Releases Findings From 2008 Real Estate Connect

Continued Housing Market Instability and Struggles in MLSes Highlight Key Insights From Technology-Focused San Francisco Event


ALAMEDA, CA--(Marketwire - August 6, 2008) - Inman News, the leading source of independent real estate news, information, advice, research, opinion and commentary, today announced its primary findings from the 2008 Real Estate Connect conference, held July 23-25 in San Francisco. In its 12th year, the Connect conference is the premier real estate conference, focused on promoting change and technological innovation within an industry that's hit a rough patch in recent years.

More than 1,500 attendees were present to discuss new tools and learn about industry trends. All sides of the current real estate spectrum were explored, including foreclosures and international investment strategies. Other areas of focus included best practices and examples around search-engine optimization, online video, social media strategies and blogging.

The following are the key insights identified by Inman News:

--  Housing market instability - Inflationary pressures coupled with
    financial system instabilities have hampered any short-term recovery hopes
    for the housing market. In the current state, would-be buyers can't get
    loans, a fact that's exacerbated by uncertain legislative outcomes.
--  MLS - MLS stakeholders struggle with their roles today. Debates over
    public-facing MLS sites and syndication of property listings data make MLS
    participants question where to put property listings online and how to
    retrieve and share data in an efficient way.
--  Marketing trends - Large companies have shifted to life-cycle
    marketing, engaging consumers throughout the entire homeownership process
    instead of stopping at the point of sale. For small companies, the focus is
    on better targeting, and how to find high-quality leads using tight
    marketing budgets.
--  International real estate - Fueled by a rapid growth in technology,
    real estate professionals are now able to attract overseas clients to
    location-specific housing investments. Because of the weak dollar and
    falling home prices, international investment will expand in the United
    States.
--  Social media - Real estate agents have embraced blogging and social
    sites as a way to disseminate local market information and win the trust of
    new clients, especially in niche markets. Widespread adoption, however, has
    lead to an inundated space where it's easier to be anonymous than
    effective.
    

The next Inman Connect event will be held Jan. 7-9 at the Marriott Marquis Times Square in New York City. More details can be found at: http://www.inman.com/events/real-estate-connect-nyc-2009.

About Inman News

Inman News is the leading source of independent real estate news, information, advice, research, opinion and commentary for industry professionals and consumers alike. Each month more than half a million readers visit Inman.com to keep up to date on changes in the real estate market. The site features breaking news and analysis, video interviews with leading industry personalities, a network of the Web's top real estate blogs, a powerful online community and social networking platform and much more. The company's content is syndicated on more than 150,000 web sites and in more than 200 newspapers, including The Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Yahoo!, The Wall Street Journal Online, and many more.

Contact Information: For More Information Lindsey Zouein or William O'Neal LaunchSquad (415) 625-8555 inman (at) launchsquad.com