Real Estate 'Area Highlighter' iPhone Feature Puts Homes at Buyers' Finger Tips

CAMPBELL, Calif., Aug. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Building on the success of the Realtor.com premier Real Estate Search iPhone application, Move, Inc. (Nasdaq: MOVE), the leader in online real estate, today announces a new Area Highlighter feature enabling users to easily search a specified location by free-style drawing on a map with the touch of a finger.  Making on-the-go property search more fun and interactive, the new Realtor.com Area Highlighter iPhone feature delivers instant access to consumers and real estate professionals interested in customizing search locations specific to an area of interest as they use their iPhone to browse the largest and freshest online collection of properties for sale.

Offering more innovative search capabilities than any other real estate mobile application on the market today, the newly updated Realtor.com Real Estate Search iPhone app includes a host of new property, lot and community search features including the ability to perform rich custom searches for properties from categories such as "single story," "water view," "water front" and "swimming pools." Exploring new cities and neighborhoods also becomes easier with the new Location Browser feature, which makes it convenient for those unsure of a city's name or neighborhood to find the location of interest. Users will now also be able to quickly recall the past five searched locations they've viewed by using the Recent Locations feature.

In addition to launching the new Area Highlighter feature, Realtor.com is also introducing new features optimized for the new iPhone iOS 4.0. Features specific to the new iPhone iOS 4.0 include the Share Listing by SMS feature that empowers agents to leverage additional social distribution of their listings, while enabling consumers to share their favorite properties with friends by tapping the Send as Text Message button on the navigation bar. Listing agents can also benefit from more traffic to their listings via the Calendar Integration feature, which lets users add homes scheduled to host an open house, as well as the property details and agent's contact information to their calendars.

Realtor.com President, Errol Samuelson says, "By continually evolving our mobile experience with new features like Area Highlighter, Realtor.com delivers on our commitment to develop innovative and interactive search experiences enabling consumers and real estate professionals to connect and find properties in a manner that's complementary to their mobile lifestyles."  

Samuelson goes on to explain the Realtor.com Real Estate Search iPhone app continues to successfully connect potential home buyers with real estate professionals, and consistently receives high ratings from users searching for properties on the go.

Since its launch in January 2010, the Realtor.com iPhone app has been downloaded more than 1.5 million times, and is the leading real estate application in terms of number of features, end-user ratings and performance, according to a report issued last month by real estate consulting firm, Clareity Consulting.  In addition, visits, e-mail leads and phone calls from the Realtor.com Real Estate Search iPhone app increased by more than 60 percent in the second quarter of 2010 as compared to the first quarter of that same year.  

"We're very pleased that consumers who have the Realtor.com Real Estate Search app are using it approximately 16 minutes per session, and we attribute their engagement to the quality of the app and the important role it plays in their search efforts," comments Samuelson.  "We look forward to introducing additional mobile search products later this year that will support the needs of both consumers and real estate professionals as they navigate real estate."

Categorized as a Lifestyle Application in the Apple® iTunes® store, the free Realtor.com Real Estate Search iPhone app is compatible with iPhone OS 3.0 or higher, the iPad, and the iPod Touch.  This newest update containing these six new features can now be downloaded at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/realtor-com-real-estate-search/id336698281?mt=8 or by going to the consumer information page on Realtor.com at http://www.realtor.com/iphone/.  Read today's blog post here: http://www.realtor.com/blogs/2010/08/17/check-out-new-area-highlighter-feature-on-realtor-com-iphone-app/.

ABOUT REALTOR.COM®

Realtor.com®, where the world shops for real estate online, is operated by Move, Inc., (Nasdaq: MOVE) and is the official web site of the National Association of REALTORS®. Ranked as the #1 homes-for-sale site, Realtor.com® currently offers potential home buyers access to over four million property listings, as well as the most brokers and agents. It also provides REALTORS® and the home sellers they represent with the Internet's largest real estate marketplace, reaching more than 9.06 million(1) consumers in June 2010. Agents and companies have the power to customize Realtor.com(R) resources to maximize their brand and productivity.

REALTOR® and Realtor.com® are registered trademarks of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTOR®. REALTOR® is a federally registered collective membership mark, which identifies a real estate professional who is a Member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics. All other trademarks appearing above are the property of Move, Inc., or of their other respective owners.

ABOUT MOVE, INC.

Move, Inc. (NASDAQ:MOVE) is the leader in online real estate with 11.6 million(2) monthly visitors to its online network of web sites. Move, Inc. operates: Move.com, a leading destination for information on new homes and rental listings, moving, home and garden and home finance; REALTOR.com®, the official web site of the National Association of REALTORS®; Moving.com; SeniorHousingNet; and TOP PRODUCER Systems. Move, Inc. is based in Campbell, California.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including information about management's view of Move's future expectations, plans and prospects, within the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the results of Move, its subsidiaries, divisions and concepts to be materially different than those expressed or implied in such statements. These risk factors and others are included from time to time in documents Move files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to, its Form 10-Ks, Form 10-Qs and Form 8-Ks. Other unknown or unpredictable factors also could have material adverse effects on Move's future results. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. Move cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Finally, Move expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

(1) comScore Media, July 2010

(2) comScore Media Metrix, July 2010

SOURCE Move, Inc.