photo credit: russelljsmith

Today, we announce our July national home price reduction report. Nationally, home listing price cuts are on the rise while some of the hardest hit markets are seeing stabilization. As of July 1st, 2009, there have been $27.1 billion in price reductions for all current homes on the market compared to $27.4 Billion in June.

According to Pete Flint, Trulia Co-Founder and CEO, “All real estate is local and we’re seeing glimmers of hope as price stabilization occurs in major cities across the nation, including some of the earliest hit cities that have experienced huge declines in the past few years. On the flip side, perhaps sellers are pricing their homes more rationally to get them off the market as soon as possible.”

Trulia Price Reduction Report Highlights

• Hardest hit cities see biggest improvement from a month ago - Las Vegas 33% and Los Angeles 25%
• Average price reduction In Las vegas = 16%
• Average price reduction in Los Angeles = 12%
• 24.6% of all current homes on the market in the United States as of July 1st 2009 have experienced at least 1 price cut
• $27 Billion in price reductions
• National Average price reduced home = 10.4% list price reduction down from 10.6% last month
• Markets where sellers more drastically overpriced homes = Miami, New York City & Detroit = more drastic cuts
• Detroit, Michigan = sellers slashed 21% off original asking price
• Miami, Florida = sellers cut 15% off original asking price
• New York City, New York = sellers cut 13% off original asking price
• Month over month - 4 new cities in top 10 major priced reduced markets = Milwaukee, New York City, Chicago and Illinois
• Luxury market getting hit hard
• 25.8% of Homes over $1,000,000 seeing price reduction
• 24.5% of Homes under $1,000,000 seeing price reduction
• Luxury Homes over $1,000,000 seeing 13% cut of asking price
• Homes under $1,000,000 seeing 9% cut off asking price

Top 50 Cities - July Price Reductions

For more info on Trulia’s national home price reduction report, please visit our press release in the Trulia News room.

photo credit: Fabio Ikezaki

Today, thousands gathered and millions [billions?] watched the Michael Jackson Memorial at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The King of Pop was an inspiration to many and a musical legend. He will be missed but his music will last forever.

Here’s a look at some of Michael Jackson’s most famous homes:

1. Neverland Ranch - 5225 Figueroa Mountain Rd, Los Olivos, CA

Michael Jackson’s 2,676 acre Neverland Ranch - 1988 to 2005 - 5225 Figueroa Mountain Rd, Los Olivos, CA 93441

2. 2300 Jackson Street Gary, Indiana

Via Dailymail

Source: Youtube

Michael Jackson’s Childhood home  - 2300 Jackson Street Gary, Indiana 46407

3. 4641 Hayvenhurst Ave Encino, California

Michael Jackson’s Family 5 bedroom 7 bath  10,476 sf home in Encino, California - 4641 Hayvenhurst Ave Encino, Ca  91436-3251

R.I.P. MJ

Source: YouTube

Real estate agents have long known that people love photos, so they typically make sure to make lots of photos available for the listings they represent.  At Trulia, we strive to make it easier for agents to present their listings in the most pleasing way possible, and we’ve just made this easier.  Now, if you’re the listing agent for a particular listing, you can easily add photos or re-order photos (to make sure, for example, that the cover photo is the most eye-catching of them all).

It’s easy to try out the new functionality.  First, access your My Listings page (if you don’t already have a Trulia account, you’ll be prompted to create one).  Then, for any listing on your page, select from the drop-down menu as per the screenshot below.  (If you don’t yet have listings on this page, you can also add them here).

Next, you can edit photos from this page.  Add photos (as many as you’d like!) by uploading them from your computer or just entering the URL if the photo is already posted elsewhere online.  Delete any photos you don’t like.  Or, using simple “drag and drop” functionality, move the photos around — into the order you’d like.  You can also add captions to the photos.

Best of all?  This is all free.  You just need to be the listing agent for listings on Trulia.

We hope you like this new functionality.  As always, if you have comments or questions, please let us know.

photo credit: Phil McElhinney

Trulia has had great momentum in the first 6 months of 2009. We’ve seen a huge increase in consumer interest in real estate while setting new company records for site traffic, user engagement and revenue. Based on user behavior, consumer, agent and community feedback we’ve added lot’s of new site features and functionality making the user experience on Trulia better for all.

Here are the highlights:

• Visits to Trulia grew 40%
• Over 30 million unique visitors in the last 6 months
• Property views up more than 90%
• Page Views up 83% across home listings and Stats and Trends
• Trulia Voices contributions up 85% in 1st half of 2009 compared to same period in 2008
• Trulia recently climbs to #5 on Hitwise up from the 8th then 6th position
• Trulia rises to #5 on ComScore in the real estate category up from #6
• Trulia won the 2009 Webby Award for Best Real Estate Site
• New Price Reduction tool for home buyers, sellers, agents, investors and real estate junkies
• Compare It! - Consumers can compare up to 5 properties side-by-side
• New Property details pages - Upgraded with user friendly section tabs = easier to find related content
• Most Popular Trulia Voices Q&A and Blogs - New homepage highlighting most popular content rather than newest content
• New Open House management tool - easily add your open houses to Trulia
• New agent and listing synch system  - Automatically associates agent listings with their accounts
• New Client Listing Reports - Agents can send their sellers personalized weekly reports about consumer interest in their property
• Find a Pro - Search over 350,000 real estate professionals on Trulia. Find the right pro for you easier
• Trulia Mobile - V2 of our iPhone app - New search and filter functionality
• The Washington Post Co-Brand partnership

“Our focus on the consumer and adding in new features and functionality that they have been asking for has been the key to our growth in Q1 and Q2,” said Pete Flint, CEO and co-founder, Trulia.com.  “We’re seeing huge increases not only in visits, but also in consumers contacting agents and advertisers through Trulia.com.  This growth in leads gives us confidence about a stabilizing housing market and is attracting more advertisers and revenue on Trulia than ever before.”

Many thanks to everyone who proactively participates on Trulia and to those who provide us valuable feedback. You are a huge part of why Trulia continues to grow so rapidly.

Stay tuned for more great functionality and features in the second half of 2009.

For more details, please read our 1st Half of 2009 Momentum Press Release

Today, we have many Trulians volunteering their time and labor to help a Habitat for Humanity build project in the Bayview/ Hunters Point area in San Francisco. It feels great giving back to the community and helping out a good cause.

Many thanks to Habitat for the opportunity to help!

While year-over-year numbers indicate the index is down a massive 18.1%, the most recent monthly drop for April is smaller than previous declines at 0.6% (as compared to the 2.2% we analyzed last month).

Is it the beginning of the “the turnaround” or just a faux?

S&P chairman David Blitzer kept his insights fairly neutral: “Thirteen of the 20 metro areas also saw improvement in their annual return compared to that of March. Furthermore, every metro area, except for Charlotte, recorded an improvement in monthly returns over March,” Blitzer said in a statement. “While one month’s data cannot determine if a turnaround has begun; it seems that some stabilization may be appearing in some of the regions.”

But it sounds like not everyone’s so convinced.

Some notable “quotables” from the media:

* CNNMoney.com: “Not all optimistic: The housing market picture is still very murky, according to Pat Newport, a real estate analyst with IHS Global Insight. He’s not convinced that the improved
April report means much more than a seasonal variation in housing markets. Spring is, historically, a strong time of year for housing markets.”
* MarketWatch.com: “U.S. home prices fell in April, but overall annual declines are slowing, according to the national Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday… ‘The fly in the ointment is foreclosures, which tend to result in much lower prices and are an increasing
proportion of transactions,’ [Ian] Shepherdson [chief U.S. economist with High Frequency Economics] wrote. ‘For now, though, this is clearly less bad than recently.’”
* Wall Street Journal Blogs: “…the bloodletting may not be over. Heres why: If price declines accelerate for the mid-to-upper end of the housing market, then that could generate enough large declines in valueseven among a small segment of the overall housing marketto push the index lower
still.
* Bloomberg.com: “Home prices saw a striking improvement in the rate of decline in April and trading in funds launched today indicates investors believe the U.S. housing slump is nearing a bottom, said Yale University economist Robert Shiller.”

And I thought numbers didn’t lie. Home buyers, owners and sellers: What do you think?  Do you see a turnaround or more trouble for your area?

Now that Jillian has selected her final 4 bachelors, we thought we’d see what kind of bachelorette pads we’re on the market in each of the final 4’s home towns.

Here are our Top 4 Bachelorette Pad Picks:

1. Kiptyn from Encinitas, California

$1,375,000 - 805 Hermes Ave Encinitas, CA 92024

2. Ed from Chicago, Illinois

$1,349,900 - 2545 North Burling Street Chicago, Illinois

3. Wes from Austin, Texas

$1,100,000 -  5005 Red Bluff Road Austin, Texas 787702

4. Reid from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

$749,000 - 929 South 2nd Street Philadelphia, PA

Looking forward to next weeks episode…….

If your listings are on Trulia, then you can send each of your clients a custom Client Listing Report. You can learn more about Trulia’s Client Listing Reports when we launched it here and our update on our automated weekly report scheduler here.

Have you sent your clients their custom Report yet?

Did you know that Shaquille O’Neal, better know as Shaq, got traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers? Did you know Shaq found out via Twitter? The speed of breaking news via social media is amazing. Twiter is like a little fly on the wall that hears everything and then blasts it out to the whole world. Powerful.

Well now that Shaq is heading for Cleveland, we thought we’d search for some possible new homes for the big guy.

Here’s what we found:

1. $6,000.000 - 31214 Lake Road, Bay Village OH 44140

2. $5,200,000  - 35275 South Woodland Rd Chagrin Falls OH 44022

3. $2,900,000 - 23408 Lake Rd Bay Village OH 44140

4. $2,650,000 - 123 Meadow Ln Solon OH 44139

5. $1,999,000 - 10007 Lake Shore Blvd Bratenahl OH 44108

I’m sure Shaq has a Realtor that will help him find his new home. If not, Trulia has lots of awesome local Cleveland area real estate agents to choose from. Good luck with the move Shaq! I’m sure Lebron is pumped

Update: Related Breaking Shaq News

Kevin Tomlinson from the South Beach Real Estate Blog reports Shaq just sold his Star Island pad in Miami Beach for $16m

Ever wonder, “How Can I Best use Trulia Voices?”

You’re not alone. Many are thinking the same thing. With so many cool things to do on Trulia, it can be daunting trying to figure out where to start. So, we wanted to share a road map of sorts on where to begin and how to best participate. It’s just an outline so feel free to jump around and start with the things you’re most immediately comfortable with.

1. Complete your Trulia Voices Profile - Real Estate Resume

When a real estate agent or other real estate professional creates their profile on Trulia, they’re essentially creating their Real Estate Resume. It’s so important to all the pro’s reading this to make sure that you complete all the fields of your profile. You wouldn’t go into a job interview with a piece of paper that only had your name and contact information on it - would you? That just wouldn’t help you land that dream job you’ve been searching for - in this case, that dream client. The same holds true for your Trulia profile - please give consumers all the pertinent information about yourself as you can so they can make better informed decisions when picking their next real estate pro to work with.

Your Trulia Profile offers Personalization and great long term SEO Benefits:

• Your Name = Profile Page Title - Include your name and primary keywords that you would like to be found for within the search engines and on Trulia
• Headline Section - This is the meta description for your profile -  list some of your primary keywords there too
• Location - Add multiple primary geographic locations where you work or are an expert in such as City & State or Zip code. The 1st location in the list appears in your page Title so choose it wisely
• Website Links - You get to add 5 dofollow links with custom anchor text - point them to any site or blog of your choice. Controlling the anchor text allows you to have your link say “Miami Beach Real Estate” instead of “Website”
• Custom Profile Vanity URL -  Customize your URL so it looks like this - http://www.trulia.com/profile/social_media_guru/  -rather than this -  http://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Real_Estate_Pro-12345-123456/ - It makes it easy to share and remember. See more details here
• About Me Section - People want to know who they are dealing with. Share some insight into who you are are, what you’re good at and what you have accomplished. Use your keywords here too - always in moderation.
• Client Testimonials - Add up to 10 testimonials from your past or current clients. Consumers want to work with someone who others trust - this can help give them a glimpse into who you are from someone else’s perspective. Again, in moderation, use your market keywords here like the City & State, Town, Neighborhood, Zip Code, Community, Building name etc…..
• Specialties - List what you are an expert in
• Experience - Share your past real estate and non-real estate work experience - maybe a potential client worked for the same company or industry in the past too - that can be the spark that can help you make a better connection.
• Certifications and Awards - It’s ok to share your designations and achievements - it shows that you are proactive and motivated
• Interests - Are you an avid golfer? Love to fly fish? Do you sail? Ski down double diamonds in Park City, Utah? If so, let people know this little bit of personal info. They may like what you do too which can once again, help you make a successful connection with a potential client.
• Claim your listings on Trulia - To claim your listing on Trulia, go to the “My Listing” link within your profile and search for your listings by - Property address, MLS ID, or your email address. After you do this, those claimed listings will display on your profile, your contact info and photo will appear on those listings and the listings on your profile will become dofollow links.If we get your listings via a feed, remember that your listings are associated with your corporate email address, so be sure to use that same email address for your Trulia profile. Then, your listings will automatically appear on Trulia.
• Grow your Google Page Rank - The more active you are within our Trulia Voices community, the more it will help your profile grow it’s page rank over time. We have seen some Trulia profiles as high as a PR4.
• Fresh Content - Your Own Real Estate Knowledge Base - All answers, questions and blog posts are displayed on your profile which helps in keeping your profile active with fresh content which search engines like Google love. It’s also easy for consumers to skim through all your content in one place.

2. Outline your Objectives

Now that you created your awesome detailed real estate resume, it’s time to sit back and outline some reasons you’re on Trulia Voices. Having a focus will help you become more successful.

Some reasons may be:

• To Sell your clients listings - Getting them maximum exposure in front of a targeted audience is a great reason to be on Trulia.
• To Market yourself and your business - Establish yourself as a local expert in our real estate community
• To Meet Home Buyers and Sellers - Establish trust and clients for life
• To learn - Gain knowledge and insight from others in the community
• To educate - Share your expertise and knowledge
• To make friends - Real estate is social by nature - our community is a great place to meet other like minded people
• To network and get/send Referrals - Build your pipeline and grow your sphere of influence locally and nationwide

3. Understand why Consumers are coming to Trulia

Trulia Voices is a very vibrant and powerful real estate social networking community. Consumers are coming to Trulia for a variety of reasons. Understanding things from their perspective can help you better communicate and connect with them.

• They’re doing market research - Stats, trends, heat maps, guides, demographics etc…Consumers want to know as much as they can about the properties, neighborhoods and communities as possible.
• They’re looking to find their dream home - Consumers can search over 3.5 Million homes for sale on Trulia and growing
• They’re looking for an Agent - With over 360,000 real estate professionals on Trulia, consumers have lot’s of great people to research
• Q&A - They’re asking Questions & looking for Answers from agents they can trust
• Personal Experiences - They’re sharing their stories both good and bad.

4. Observe - Be a Fly on the Wall and Read

Every community or group whether it’s online or offline has a unique culture. It’s best to observe and learn what those are before jumping into a conversation.

• Visit Trulia Voices Q&A and Trulia Blogs
• Find Questions & Blog posts in your Local area by City, State, Zip, Neighborhood or Keyword - see what’s happening in your neck of the woods. You may notice people who have either good or bad online etiquette -  Think about how you would ask or answer that question yourself and how others may perceive your answer.
• Sign Up for Email Alerts -   Select a category and location and then get notified every time a question is asked, and be the first to answer. Also, get notified when new real estate blog posts are published.

5. Become a Proactive Trulia Voices Community Contributor

Writing your thoughts and opinions online for the world to read can be a scary proposition. Don’t worry, I felt that way too. When you’re ready and feel comfortable, it’s time to dive in and become a participant rather than just a spectator or lurker as some like to call it.

• Answer Consumers Questions - Find Questions & Blog posts in your Local area by City, State, Zip, Neighborhood or Keyword and join the conversation. If you think you can add value to the conversation - go for it. Don’t just leave a comment to leave a comment. Remember, people are reading from all over. What you say today can effect you and your business today and years from now. Answer thoughtfully and within the law and your local code of ethics.
• Ask Your own Questions - Got a question yourself? Need help? Go for it. Ask away. It’s a two way street. The community is there to help.
• Blog - Blog about the real estate topics you know best. Talk about things that home buyers and sellers want to know about.
• Call or email other agents - Be proactive. Reach out to other agents in other markets within your state or nationwide. Build your referral network up. You never know when you’ll need or have a referral.
• Share your content - On Mybloglog, Share on Facebook, Twitter, Digg etc…
• Search Popular categories - See what’s hot on Trulia! This can help you learn about what people are talking about the most and can help you get ideas on what to write about yourself
• Top Trulia Contributors - See the Top Trulia Contributors of All Time, Last Week or by Last Month and see who has the Most Answers, Most Liked Answers and the Best Answers
• Get showcased on the Trulia Voices Homepage - Now that you’re being proactive on Trulia, we want you to stand out within the community. Learn how to do that here.
• Find a Pro Trulia Directory - Get Found by Consumers. The more details you add to your Trulia profile, the easier it will be for consumers to find you on Trulia
• See All Professionals on Trulia - Search by Best Match, Most Activity and Featured

So there you have it. We’re constantly adding new things to Trulia to better enhance your experience. So expect to see the site and all of it’s features get tweaked from time to time. Your feedback is invaluable in this process so please feel free to share your thoughts, comments, concerns and ideas with us at anytime. Leave a comment here or email me at rudy at trulia.com.

See you on Trulia Voices!