SANTA CLARA, Calif.,
July 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/
-- Realtor.com®, a leading online real estate
destination operated by News Corp [NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA]; [ASX: NWS,
NWSLV] subsidiary Move, Inc., today announced the launch of home
search by school boundaries to help buyers narrow their search to
specific elementary, middle and high schools, the latest feature
designed to simplify the home search process.
Schools continue to play a major role in how buyers search for
homes. More than 40 percent of potential homebuyers with children
would utilize a school-led home search feature, according to a
realtor.com® proprietary research. This is supported by
the National Association of Realtors'® Profile of Home
Buyers and Sellers 2016, which found almost half of all buyers with
children under 18 are influenced by the quality of the school
district in their neighborhood choice.
"Searching for homes by school has been the top requested
feature by our users and showcases the importance of schools on
home buying decisions," said Chung Meng
Cheong, chief product officer for realtor.com®.
"Our new school search feature makes it easy for those who are
already familiar with a community to find homes within specific
district boundaries. It takes us one step further in our mission to
make all things home simple, efficient and enjoyable."
Cheong also noted that an April realtor.com® report
found 22 percent of realtor.com® visitors ages 35-44
identified the desire to be near good schools as one of their top
reasons to purchase a home. Schools were the third behind only
"being tired of their current home" (30 percent) and a change in
family circumstances/composition (23 percent).
Visitors to realtor.com® can simply enter the name of
a school into the search box. They are then presented on the map
view with a "pin" showing the school name and location along with
homes for sale within the boundaries or nearby. Consumers have
one-click access to a home's full realtor.com® listing
page.
School search joins a growing list of recent
realtor.com® enhancements including:
- Inclusion of Matterport 3-D virtual tours on select
listings
- Enhancements to local community pages, including market trends,
commute times and recommended homes
- Integration of Yelp reviews of neighborhood amenities,
including shopping and restaurants
To learn more about searching for homes by school boundaries,
please click here.
About realtor.com®
Realtor.com® is the trusted resource for home buyers,
sellers and dreamers, offering the most comprehensive source of
for-sale properties, among competing national sites, and the
information, tools and professional expertise to help people move
confidently through every step of their home journey. It pioneered
the world of digital real estate 20 years ago, and today helps make
all things home simple, efficient and enjoyable. Realtor.com® is
operated by News Corp [NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV]
subsidiary Move, Inc. under a perpetual license from the National
Association of REALTORS®. For more information, visit
realtor.com®.
Editor's note: The school search boundaries are provided
by Pitney Bowes, a global technology company that provides
innovative products and solutions to power commerce. Pitney Bowes
has been an established leader in the address validation and data
quality markets for over 30 years. Data used by
realtor.com® covers nearly 80 percent of the nation's
elementary, middle and high schools. When data is unavailable,
realtor.com® pulls listings from within a 10-mile radius
of the requested school.
Media Contact:
Lexie Puckett Holbert
Lexie.holbertpuckett@realtor.com
David Siroty
David.Siroty.contractor@realtor.com
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/homebuyers-can-now-search-by-school-on-realtorcom-300483790.html
SOURCE realtor.com