The number of unique visitors to real estate sites increased by 75% this summer, compared to the same period last year, according to a new report by marketing information provider The NPD Group and Media Metrix.By comparison, total Web traffic was up 22% for the period. The increase in realty site traffic comes even as the proportion of consumers who are online and in the market for a new home has risen only slightly, the study reported.Almost three in ten consumers who access the Internet are currently in the market to buy a new property, or have been sometime during the past six months.The NPD survey found that about half of those who are online and in the market for a new property used the Internet to search for new properties online (49%).The majority of consumers searching for properties online are interested in purchasing a house (74%), with the remainder looking to buy land (10%), a condominium (10%), or co-op (1%), commercial building (1%) or some other property (5%). The average price of those properties searched for online has increased about 9%, from $128,200 last year to $139,400 this year. Almost one-fifth of those searching online are looking at properties valued over $200,000 (18%). Today consumers who are searching for a new property are primarily using the Internet for researching and comparing information. According to NPD, convenience (73%) and being able to gather and compare information before talking to a Realtor (69%) are the top reasons for searching for a new property online. Although real estate site visitation has increased within the past year, consumers who have searched for properties online report not being as satisfied as they could be with site features (average rating 36%).For instance, photos of properties are considered extremely or very important among almost all consumers (92%); however, only 40% are satisfied with this feature.The report shows Realtor.com, the official site of the National Association of Realtors, had the highest number of unique visitors among real estate sites, with almost 2.5 million unique visitors in July of 2000, or a reach of 3.2%.MSN's HomeAdvisor.com and Homestore.com are tied for second with 1.5 million unique visitors each.Top Real Estate Sites