The inventory of unsold homes on multiple-listing services is on the rise nationwide. Last month, inventory rose by 0.6 percent from the month prior and by 13 percent year-over-year, the Wall Street Journal reported. Based on data from Move Inc., 107 markets saw an increase in listings, while only 39 saw inventory either decrease or remain flat when compared to January. (February typically sees a listings uptick as home sellers prepare for the spring buying season). On a year-over-year basis, only seven markets have seen home listings decline: Jersey City, N.J. and Orlando, Fla. are among them. [more]

Anthony Longo (insert) the CEO of CondoDomain, and a screengrab from the site (Click image for larger version)

New York City is getting a new VOW-based brokerage company, in what may soon become a flood of companies taking advantage of the new technology.
Boston-based CondoDomain, a Web-based discount real estate brokerage, is now a member of the Real Estate Board of New York and offers a VOW, or virtual office Web site. That means that customers who log onto CondoDomain’s New York site can browse through all of the listings in REBNY’s database.

CondoDomain founder and CEO Anthony Longo told The Real Deal that the appearance of VOWs in New York City has opened the floodgates for new companies like his to penetrate the lucrative New York City market.

“The VOW will lay the groundwork for companies like ours to come in and compete,” said Longo, who has had his eye on the New York market for years. [more]

Stephen Kotler of Prudential Douglas Elliman

Prudential Douglas Elliman gave The Real Deal an update on its new Web site, which will include VOW capabilities and track listings’ price changes. Elliman has spent a year and more than $1 million developing the new Web platform, which is slated to launch the first week of April, according to Stephen Kotler, an executive vice president at the company. The redesigned site will include a virtual office Web site, or VOW, that allows customers to see not only Elliman’s listings, but all of the properties for sale in the markets where Elliman has offices: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Hamptons, and Long Island. Kotler, who is overseeing the launch of the new site, said the fact that Elliman’s VOW capabilities extend to markets outside New York City will set it apart from other brokerage Web sites. “What will make ours stand out is the fact that it’s not just Manhattan,” he said. “There’s nobody in the marketplace that is going to deliver all the [region’s] listings in one place.” “What will make ours stand out is the fact that it’s not just Manhattan,” he said. “There’s nobody in the marketplace that is going to deliver all the [region’s] listings in one place.” TRD gets dirt on Elliman’s new $1M Web site” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Homes prices are up on Long Island for the first time in more than two years, the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island said in its January report, which also covers Queens. Median closing prices for the month rose to $365,000, up 4.3 percent over the $350,000 median price registered in January 2009. One month does not a trend make, though, and MLS Long Island President Frank Dell’Accio predicted that prices will go back and forth for the next few months. “At a minimum… we can start to look at it and say there’s a possibility that prices have stopped declining,” he said. Activity was also up during January, while inventory was down. More than 2,000 closings occurred, up 25 percent over a year ago, and MLS Long Island’s listings were down 14 percent to 33,417 homes. [Newsday]

Diane Ramirez, president of Halstead

Halstead Property announced today that it has completed the process of instituting a VOW, or “Virtual Office Web site,” making it the first major city brokerage to do so. According to Diane Ramirez, the president of Halstead, the company has received approval from the Real Estate Board of New York for a VOW, a new type of Web site expected to have far-reaching consequences for the industry. That means that Halstead customers may now search all of the industry’s
listings — provided directly by REBNY — without leaving an individual
Halstead agent’s Web site. In the past, site visitors could see only
Halstead exclusives.

The result of a recent settlement between the Department of Justice and the National Association of Realtors, VOWs are a new phenomenon in Manhattan. Under the terms of the settlement, the Real Estate Board of New York is required by law to provide these listings directly to VOWs who are REBNY members, provided they agree to certain guidelines and pay a fee for an audit by REBNY. This summer, Manhattan got its first VOW, an online brokerage known
as CBS 2 Real Estate Market, located at CBS2REM.com. Halstead is the
first of the city’s major brick and mortar firms to go through the
process of adding VOW capabilities, according to Ramirez, who said the
brokerage was informed last week that it met REBNY’s requirements, and
is now just waiting for the official paperwork. The change comes in
conjunction with new individual agent Web sites the company recently
unveiled.  More

[more]