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Real-Estate Ads Keep Newspaper Classifieds Alive

Revenue from real-estate ads in the Los Angeles Times grew 45 percent in Q2 over last year, a sign that the low interest rates that are keeping the housing market alive are also helping newspaper advertising, according to the Wall Street Journal. Belo Corp., owner of the Dallas Morning News among others, and Lee Enterprises Inc., which owns more than 50 daily papers, have also seen dramatic increases in real-estate ads, up 34 percent and 16 percent respectively, from last year.

 

Real-estate ads accounted for about 25 percent of the $16.6 billion in newspaper classified-ad revenue last year, according to the Newspaper Association of America - a growing share of a shrinking market. Total classified-ad revenue was $19.6 billion in 2000, with real-estate ads making up 16 percent. Plus, online real-estate sites will take bigger pieces of the advertising pie this year, up to 15.7 percent of total real-estate ads sales, from last year’s 11 percent.

Peter Conti Jr., an analyst for media research and consulting firm Borrell Associates, expects that the internet’s share of the real-estate ad market will surpass newspapers - currently at 42 percent - by 2009.