By Roland Li
In the past five years, the real estate listings website StreetEasy has become ubiquitous. Last month, it had over 15 million page views, and the term ”StreetEasy” was the top Google search term by New Yorkers in 2010.
The site’s ascension has been marked by powerful number-crunching, an economic meltdown and, perhaps above all, a manifesto that encapsulates the brave new world: information should be free and transparent.
”Everything about our site is about honesty,” said Sofia Song, vice president of research at StreetEasy.
By publishing comprehensive sale and rental histories of over 10,500 apartments in Manhattan, StreetEasy has given prospective residents unprecedented access, unlocking data that was formerly only available to brokers or landlords. The site’s condo recorded sales data goes back to 1995, its co-op sales data to 2004.
The site has been profitable since September 2008, on the eve of the collapse of Lehman. While the housing market saw a plunge in prices in the wake of the recession, StreetEasy has seen a spike in traffic since 2008, as buyers and renters realized that data was more valuable than ever.
StreetEasy’s revenue comes from advertising, listings and subscriptions, which are $10 per month for ”StreetEasy Insiders,” who can access more data. Broker accounts, which include an agent page and statistics tracking, are $75 per month. Listings can be promoted for a fee, appearing at the top of search results, but only if the listing matches search criteria.
Since CEO Michael Smith launched the site on Dec. 28, 2005, it has continued to add features, now displaying nearby subway lines, zoned school districts and, most recently, creating a “folders” option that allows visitors to save particular pages or searches. Its discussion boards, which range from general advice to apartment-specific talk, give real estate enthusiasts an environment to gush– or vent.
These relentless improvements come from just 13 employees, which include programmers, sales and marketing staff, researchers, from the company’s office on Broadway.
But when it first debuted, StreetEasy was met with unease from parts of the brokerage community.
“There’s always apprehension when something new enters the market, because there’s a fear of the unknown,” said Yuval Greenblatt, an executive vice president of Prudential Douglas Elliman, who oversees the firm’s 485 Madison Avenue office.
But in the recent years, many brokers have grown to see the site as a powerful tool, both for market research, and as a vehicle for marketing their own listings. The major residential brokerages now give StreetEasy listings data, and the company has conducted training sessions for brokers from Prudential Douglas Elliman, Brown Harris Stevens, Stribling & Associates, Halstead Property, Warburg Realty, Sotheby’s, Bellmarc Realty, Citi Habitats, and Mark David Real Estate.
”In no way are we competition to the brokerage community, because we’re not a brokerage,” said Song. ”We saw the broker as part of our audience.”
Song, who studied economics at Cornell University and completed a master’s degree in urban planning, previously worked at Corcoran Sunshine. She provided market studies, unit mix and pricing analysis for large developers.
Greenblatt of Elliman said his brokers have been trained to use StreetEasy, and its listings have helped his office connect with buyers. He added that the site’s listings from the major brokerages make it a comprehensive resource, and the verified data gives it objectivity.
”It was the first step in creating a singular platform,” said Greenblatt. ”The facts are the facts.”
Elliman is also in the process of revamping its own listings site, incorporating a Virtual Office Website (VOW) into the design.
Jonathan Miller, president of appraisal firm Miller Samuel, who also prepares data for Elliman, said that StreetEasy was part of a larger trend.
”The industry is moving closer towards transparency and that’s good for consumers,” he said. ”Major brokerage firm sites like Elliman.com have expanded the palette of information available. Creative analytic approaches like UrbanDigs help people navigate hyperlocal.”
By focusing on data, rather than editorial content, StreetEasy has become a frequent partner with many local media outlets, including New York magazine, the Wall Street Journal and the Observer. Its quarterly market reports are publicized at the same level as the major brokerages.
Similar to its relationship with brokers, StreetEasy sees partnerships with the media as mutually beneficial. The site provides data that fuels a full range of stories, from Manhattan market reports to the latest price cuts at a hot new development.
Even with publications where no formal relationships exist, StreetEasy has become indispensable.
”You can’t have a superhero without a cape, and you can’t have a real estate blog without StreetEasy,” said Joey Arak, senior editor of the real estate website Curbed. ”We use it every day in a variety of ways– finding interesting or eye-popping new listings, tracking price histories, digging up seller and buyer info.”
There is no other real estate market as much scrutinized as Manhattan, and the lay of the land hasn’t just propelled StreetEasy to prominence. It’s shaped the site’s entire being.
”We’re a New York product because of apartment buildings,” said Song.
The layout of the city benefits StreetEasy in numerous ways. The division of the island creates distinct submarkets, allowing more precise slices of data. The scarcity of land in Manhattan has led to dense, and most importantly, vertical growth. Because most apartment buildings have multiple units, buyers and renters can see not merely the price histories on their own units, but also those of neighbors. Price cuts can be tracked throughout a building, or revealed to have specially targeted, for example, penthouse units.
Closings data is especially important for new developments, particularly in a down market. The pace of sales and severity of discounts (if any) are a crucial indication of the health of a project, and such statistics can shape the narrative of a building.
One challenge continues to be revealing the details of new developments. Offering plans of new developments, which are filed with the New York State attorney general’s office, detail exact amenities, square footage and prices. But a bureaucratic labyrinth greets those who seek to obtain such plans, and until such a database becomes readily available, that part of the industry remains obscured.
Because numbers are powerful, StreetEasy is meticulous in verifying them.
All closings data comes through the city’s Department of Finance, which posts deeds of each sales transaction on an online database, known as ACRIS. By only using city data, the site has strong credibility.
But StreetEasy has also been flexible by allowing brokers to obtain credit for deals where they represented the buyer. Traditionally, only listings brokers, or those who represented the seller or sponsor, appear in records. StreetEasy has given brokers the ability to claim deals where they represented the buyer, boosting their appeal to clients. But, as always, all credit is carefully verified, said Song.
StreetEasy has data for five New Jersey boroughs and expanded to include Hamptons data in June 2009. Currently the site remains dedicated to New York, and is focusing on improving existing features, rather than expanding geographically. But already, with its dedication to transparency, StreetEasy has made an impact on real estate consumers that extends beyond the city’s borders. Song said she receives emails from buyers from other states, who discover StreetEasy through its iPhone application, and yearn for the site to track their neighborhood.
”The world is catching up to StreetEasy in expectations,” said Song.
