房地产外文文献译文 房地产市场策略外文文献

房地产外文文献译文 房地产市场策略外文文献 房地产外文文献译文 中英文 房地产业和互联网:改变科技，改变定位 互联网，仅仅它的网页图形版本，就已经吸引了众多消费者和商家的目光。其便捷、迅速、低成本和通用性每天以瞬息万变的方式被利用着。聚集互联网的能力来促进现存的商业转变，促进新商业和信息数据设备的改变。互联网其它引人注目的特性在于能够利用这个新科技通过全球经济进行传播。从1995年到1999年初，电脑主机的数量增长超过10倍，从1995年至1998年，网站数量增加了将近100倍，超过200万。到2000年，世界上有大约400,500亿网站用户，网站总数将超过5亿。 这种新科技直接或间接的影响着房地产业。直接的是，它可能成为一种允许房地产业扩展其信息、销售网络的工具。间接的是，它可能改变方位模式，企业何地或怎样办公，那么最终将影响公司参与房地产开发、投资和交易这个角色。 测量网络速度 在互联网上或网站使用上，很少有可靠的出版统计，不同的家往往预报的数据也不一致。我们讨论的网络和房地产从调查和网站上到的信息是有限的，而不是非常全面的数据。我们通过测试各种各样的来源(包括商业出版物，现有网站和我们所选定的房地产企业)以互联网的角色来建立我们的视野。 从电子邮件到电子商务 在万维网到来之前，因特网的存在主要目的是为了电子邮件、数据传输、新闻组和公告牌。它的延伸是非常有限的，起初只应用在学院和国防机构中。科技本身并界面并不是非常友好的，网络传播速度并不是非常高的，媒介仅限于文本和数据，而且存取信息难处理，耗费时间长。但浏览器技术大大简化了使用，使多媒体信息和创造互动式成为可能。科技将电视娱乐、图书馆信息、新闻通告、通信、数据带到了一个桌面上。 尽管开始时最大的网络用户是学术界，但是商业部门迅速抓住了网络的潜力。私营企业在网络上发现了一个好机会来扩大其市场范围，降低信息传播的成本，改善与顾客之间的关系并且最终实施销售。概括的说，现存的私营企业网站大致可以分为三种类型。第一种类型是简单的信息传播。公司注册一个网站并且发展一个网页提供基本的公司信息。第二种类型是扩展信息、市场产品、服务或者提供其他客户信息。第三种类型是尽可能的在网站上增加交易活动。 绝大多数商业网站目前处于第二种类型。市场使用互联网进行详细信息传播有若干优势。为了公司，市场营销、信息传播和客户服务在网站上能被监测和分析从市场上使用其他媒介通常不能利用的一些细节。在访问这个网站时，因特网工具能够提供一个坚定的数据，那就是哪些网页被访问次数最多，重页的来源，停留多长时间等。这些信息有助于改进测量措施的结果。利用互联网促销成本会 很低。例如，在直邮营销中，将一份单页彩色小册子邮寄到5000个随机地址将耗资达2500美元，而建立一个网站的费用将是这个金额的十分之一或是更少(尽管跟踪和分析能加大成本)。许多不同领域包括房地产业都发现互联网作为一种营销渠道既高效又成本低廉。 下一步，一个发展成熟的有交易能力和贸易往来的办公室或商店在互联网上以不同的角度正尝试着，这取决于公司经营的领域。零售网站销售的产品价格在10到100美元之间，这种是直接邮寄销售种类的一个传统部分，但似乎得到了 ，000美元，另有13,产品售极大的成功(尽管有,,的网站产品售价超过10 价在100美元到9，999美元之间)。一定数量的零售网站其中等收入来源于广告。网站上广告的收益已经跨越了,亿美元的标志和这一年网上总销售额将接近一千亿美元。 消费者的网络使用 根据消费者使用网络的调查表明:一个网站不能因为一些传统商业形式的业务而代替，但是可以大大方便了最后交易的运转。利用网站大多数是信息检索，紧接着是工作相关的用途、教育、娱乐。有大概90%的人上网购物可以详细研究产品的信息，有85%的人要比较价格。有67%的人经常能够通过正常渠道来引导购买。大部分在线购买倾向于产品的化——有五分之四的顶级产品是通过网上购买的，根据调查，他们是软件、图书、五金、音乐(第五是旅行用品)。在六个月内，超过一半的消费者网购花费少于500美元。 据统计，网民的年龄和收入差别很大。乔治亚理工调查显示，媒体和网络表明网民平均年龄是35年，平均家庭收入为6万7千美元。大多数受过大学教育的占到65,，42,的受访者已经访问过房地产网站。 限制网站——一些“抓取”的新技术 新技术的到来常常伴随着一些期盼，万维网也不例外。除了转型问题，正如资源需要学习，适应和掌握它，任何新技术的面孔和时间也如此，网上也有独特的问题和它自己的问题需要解决。消费者今天正面临着信息超载的时代。即使是利用高级的搜索引擎，在网上找到相关的信息也并不容易，甚至不可能。一旦这个网址落成，那么华丽的图形，复杂的链接，迷宫般的安排和很多无关的信息可能会压倒消费者——总之，贫瘠且困惑的网站设计会减少网站的有效性。 以商业的角度分析，常听到两种抱怨。首先，用户可能发现其网站并没有突出搜索结果或限制客户访问数量。第二，很多公司最初引导的少之又少。 房地产网站 房地产公司及相关企业是早期私人使用电脑的先驱者并且目前网络的存在其发展迅速非常惊人。一个例子就是目前房地产部门在万维网出现之前，房地产投生房地产分类公告板、董事会、在线服务,为家庭和其他房地产列出。一些房 地产相关的网站开始于1994年(通常被视为今年开始的网站)。纽约城市房地产指南网站成立于1994年夏天，是第一批提供免费使用最新的纽约地产资讯的网站。到了1995年夏天，该网站在一个月内接到超过100，00名咨询。 在1995年，房地产业网上注册进入了一个划时代的一年。到那年年底，共有近4000家房地产网站。网站的内容以及网站上相关房地产公司的信息随着时间的推移而不断更新。最初，许多网站是房地产经纪公司和上市指南，但很快业务扩展到包括商业零售清单，抵押经纪人、鉴定人、建筑师、房地产开发、建筑事务所律师以及供应商。作为房地产扩张的投资工具，网站上也增加了不动产投资信托和投资顾问功能。 早期的房地产经纪人迅速利用网站独特的的特点。那就是潜在的顾客可以找出出售、出租、查找详细描述每一个上市、照片和楼面布置图，并通过电子邮件联系经纪人等功能。客户也可以根据各种不同的地理区域和新兴宏观经济趋势来查找统计和数据报告。 通过调查，在商业网站中，房地产网站占到4,至6,，从那时起，房地产业已经成为最热门的用户网站。1998年初，一项关于房地产经纪人的调查，确认将近95,的受访者或是经纪人拥有自己的个人网站，超过90,的待出售的住宅在既定时间列在网站上。的确，由于分散、局部性质的信息在房地产中扮演的角色，从信息传播和可比性中得到预期的收益，在房地产网站中，网站链接在房地产中是特别重要的。 对于大部分的房地产部门，互联网形成并没有那么多的实际交易本身，而是创造了最初的引导。之后，紧随其后的是交易、购买和销售。网站经常鼓励通过电话和人与人之间的会议来引导接触。对网上房地产企业来说，活动包括住宅搜索，住房的细节，定价信息(包括房屋和抵押贷款)和与经纪人保持联系。房地产相关的交易也是非常友好的(比如预定酒店和度假宾馆和在线填房屋抵押申请)。按揭和住房贷款融资公司的报告都是从抵押购物者从他们的网站上获得最初的信息来咨询，以及通过互联网取消贷款将会节省大量的时间和间接费用成本。 房地产专业人士不仅热衷于他们目前的网站，出版和广播广告这种方式也同样有效。抵押贷款者、购房者和寻找假期租房者都称赞其有效，特别是在研究，寻找、比较、贸易、交换等业务，在这个过程中所带来的便利。 除了这些领域，许多其他类型的房地产相关企业通过网络拓宽市场领域，增加市场营销的深度，并向现有的客户提供一系列服务。商业经纪人不仅在可靠的网站上提供信息还在市场上提供不同方位，有时更深入的地区经济分析等条件。不动产投资信托公司和其他投资公司对他们的产品以及市场背景和经济信息提供详细信息。上市公司在网站上提供最新的股票报价、季度、年度报告。 网络渗透和使用:领先的房地产公司的经验 我们对在美国和加利福尼亚房地产相关企业进行了一项有限的调查。调查显示，在1999年3月2日，在约60个公司中，有超过五分之四的公司有网站，在1996年底，在这些公司中，有三分之一的已经开辟了他们的站点。以前最早的网站现在已经是经纪人、投资公司、贷款人、商业和金融服务公司、律师事务所、住宅开发商、贸易组织。另外三分之一是新加入者，在1998年和1999年初开始的。商业开发商在这些组织中是非常突出的，住宅开发商、咨询和顾问、贷款人及不动产投资信托公司和开发商也在这些组织中。这些没有网站的更可能是有着相对狭小的活动的私营企业(例如，商业开发商集中在旧金山海湾地区)。 大多数网站使用站点提供有关公司和市场服务的信息。此外，在他们的网站上大约有三分之一的市场产权，对建筑的可利用性，周边社区以及其他相关的数据提供详细信息。网站上其他用途包括员工招聘、为会员或投资者提供信息，传播相关诸如规章或房地产市场主题的信息。 哪些网站是专门为房地产呢, 根据活跃媒体报告，一家互联网研究公司在网上一些部门根据经验来看，目前最大的增长存在于1998年，他们是计算机硬件和软件、房地产、出版和信息、财务、互联网服务。一个显著的初始动力为了网络的突然到来，用一个学术名词就是“脚尖”效应。在网络上有一个额外的优势战胜那些没有网站的，那就是他们的服务、产品、房屋列表等这些信息可以很方便的存储在电脑中，而且安装费用很低。但是，在网站上有一个潜在的不利条件，那就是现在的网站不能推动其他相关行业来建立自己的网站。 房地产股票在一些基本有利网站上涉及的很早，例如市场营销难易程度、贸易和从客户的反馈等运营成本低，便于客户服务和支持。此外，该网站还提供了有利的特点专门应对特定房地产业。其特点如下: 1 增加地理覆盖 网站戏剧化的加大了买家和卖家两者的地理覆盖。尽管“本地”房地产方面也许会被完全削减了，但毫无疑问的，关于性能方面的咨询在很大程度上比以前传播的更远。反而，增加市场潜在的尺寸和“深度”，能使其更有效率。 2 视觉化的能力 从某种意义上说，增加地理覆盖已成为可能，因为网站上其他突发特点以及视觉化的能力。在最先进的形式，网站上现在允许有潜力的买主查看房屋，度假村，旅馆和会议中心。 3 降低交易成本。 网站可能会降低交易成本。这尤其在贷款抵押方面非常明显。跟据房利美调查，过去的一年里，1.5,的抵押贷款在线上处理。网站由于交易成本降低这个 特点，使互动能力、在线计算、在线应用程序、不断网站更新这类交易功能成为可能。 4 改善信息传播 网站提供了广阔的机会来增加许多不同种类企业提供信息的广度和深度。一个架构合理的主页能够展示公司的服务和活动范围，链接允许顾客或客户去学习更多选择有兴趣的细节，而忽略了不相关的信息。大多数网站其优势在于能够链接到公司网页，链接到客户和顾客相关网站资源。 不像零售行业，例如书籍和计算机硬件，网站还没有对许多房地产公司这个“中间人”角色构成威胁。相反，它更可能被用来作为一种手段，扩大提供的服务或提供的地点。然而，从长远角度来看，网络和相关的互联网技术有能力来改变商务活动的结构，而这反过来将会影响房地产的需求而不是数量。例如，一些零售商已经关闭了商店同时扩大网络销售。同样，互联网已经被看作能够分权的办公空间。这些趋势到目前为止还没有导致下降，而是要重新分配需求量，零售及仓库空间。 投机网络房地产业有着潜在的影响，总结如下: 1(缩短交易循环 2(市场定位精准 3(转变竞争 4(节省成本:a)市场，b)销售，c)运作 5.“去中介化”的可能性，降低佣金 6(货比三家 7. 进入抵押支持债券二期市场 如何在网上找到房地产部门, 有一些关键的网站可以用来广泛访问相关房地产网站。这些网站包括: www.realtor.com,网站由全国房地产经纪人协会创建，能够链接到房地产经纪人，房屋销售和市场信息。 www.nahb.com,网站由全国房屋协会创建,提供了广泛的市场信息。 www.pikenet.com—商业房地产网站目录，包括经纪人、开发商、投资者和 分析师。 www.interestratesonline.com和www.mortgagelocator.com两个网站，为 用户提供关于抵押贷款利率，贷款经纪人信息有机会在网上提交申请。 www.nareit.com,国家房地产投资信托基金协会和www.reiac.org,房地 产投资顾问委员会，这两个网站是关于房地产投资信托的。 www.car.org,是加利福尼亚房地产经纪人协会的网站。 www.uli.org,是以信息组织、、会议、出版物相关于房地产和土地使 用都市土地协会的网站。 www.internetreview.com,有三个在线杂志，包括国家房地产投资者，世界 购物中心和中西部地区房地产新闻。此外，还有房地产在线杂志，在 www.ired.com这个网站中可以看到在线杂志。 阿肖克劳巴德汉 研究员 辛西亚期货交易 外文文献译文——英文 The Real Estate Industry and the World Wide Web: Changing Technology, Changing Location The Internet, in its Web based graphics version, has captured the imagination of both consumers and businesses. Its convenience, speed, low cost and versatility are being exploited on a daily basis in ever-changing ways. Together with its capacity to transform existing businesses, promote new businesses and facilitate exchange of information and data, its other striking attribute has been the speed with which this new technology has spread throughout the global economy. The number of computer hosts grew by more than ten-fold between 1995 and early 1999. The number of Web sites increased almost 100-fold, to over two million, between 1995 and 1998.,y the year 2000, there will be approximately 400-500 million Internet users in the world, and the total number of Web sites will exceed five million. This new technology has the potential for affecting the real estate industry directly and indirectly. Directly, it may become a tool that allows a real estate business to expand its information and sales network. Indirectly, it may change the location equation where and how firms do business which in turn will affect the role of firms involved in real estate development, investment and transactions. Measuring the Spread of the Web There are few reliable published statistics on Internet or Web use, and statistics reported by different analysts are often inconsistent. Our discussion of the Web and real estate is based on limited information from surveys and on examination of Web sites rather than on more comprehensive data. We have built our overview of the role of the World Wide Web and real estate by examining a variety of sources(including trade publications, existing Web sites, and our own survey of selected real estate firms) -mail to E-commerce From E Before the advent of the World Wide Web, the Internet existed mostly for the purposes of e-mail, data transfers, newsgroups and bulletin boards, and its reach was limited primarily to the academic and the defense community. The technology itself was not particularly user-friendly, the network speed was not very high, the medium was limited to text and data, and accessing information was cumbersome and time-consuming. The browser technology greatly simplified usage, enabled multimedia information, and created interactive possibilities. The technology brought together TV entertainment, library information, news bulletins, communication and data in one desktop machine. Although initially the greatest patrons of the Internet were the academic community, the commercial sector quickly caught on to the potential of the Web. The private sector saw in the Web an opportunity to widen its marketing reach, lower costs of information dissemination, improve customer relations, and ultimately to conduct sales. Existing private sector Web sites can be roughly categorized into three types, as summarized. The most basic level is for simple information dissemination. The firm registers a Web site and develops a page giving basic company information. The second stage is an expansion of information, marketing goods and services or providing other customer information. The third stage is the addition of transactions to the activities possible on the Web site. Most business sites at present are in Stage 2. The use of the World Wide Web for detailed information dissemination, and marketing has had several advantages. For the firm, marketing, information dissemination and customer services on the Web can be monitored and analyzed with some details unavailable from conventional methods of marketing using other media. Internet tools can now provide a firm with data on who accessed the site, which pages were visited most, heavily, from where and for how long. This information contributes to improved measures of the results of promotional efforts. The promotional costs associated with the Internet have also been very low. For example, in direct mail marketing, to send a one-page color brochure to 5,000 random addresses will cost upwards of $2,500. The cost of setting up a Web site could be one-tenth of this amount or less (although tracking and analysis can quickly add to the cost)?Many different sectors, including real estate, have found the Internet to be both efficient and cost-effective as a marketing device. The next logical step - a full-fledged office/store on the Web with transaction capability and commerce on the Internet is now being attempted in varying degrees depending on the firm's area of business. Retail sites selling products between $10 and $100, the kind that are traditionally part of a direct mail sales catalog, seem to be the ones having the greatest success(although 4% of sites sell products over $10,000 and another 13% sell products ranging from $100 to$9,999)?A number of retail sites have also harnessed a secondary revenue stream from advertising. Advertising revenues on the Web have crossed the billion-dollar mark and total Internet generated revenue will approach$100 billion this year. Consumers' Use of the Web Surveys of consumers using the Web suggest that a Web site does not substitute for the more traditional forms of business, but can greatly facilitate the run-up to the final transaction. The most common use of the Web is for information searching, closely followed by work-related uses, education, and entertainment. A significant majority of those that use the Web for shopping do so to carry out detailed research on product information(90%) and to do price comparisons(85%). This more often leads to purchases through normal channels(67%). Most of the online purchases tend to be of items that are standardized-four of the five top items bought on the Web, according to survey, are software, books, hardware and music (the fifth is travel). More than half of consumers who make purchases on the Web spend less than $500 in a six-month period. The demographics of Web users vary widely in age and income. Surveys by Georgia Tech, Active Media and Web indicate that the average age of Web users is 35 years, with average household income $67,000. Most are college educated (65%). A high proportion of the respondents (42%) has accessed real estate sites. Limits to the Web - Some "Catches" to the New Technology New technology is frequently a mixed blessing, and the World Wide Web is no exception. Apart from the teething troubles that any new technology faces and the time, as well as resources needed to learn, adapt and master it, the Web poses some unique issues and problems of its own. Consumers today are facing information overload of taxing proportions. It is not always easy, or even possible, to locate the relevant information on the Web, despite sophisticated search engines. Once the site is located, fancy graphics, complex linkages, labyrinthine routings, and a lot of irrelevant information may overwhelm the consumer - in short, poor and confusing site design can reduce the site's effectiveness. From the point of view of the business, there are two commonly heard complaints. First, the business may find that its site does not figure prominently on search results, limiting the number of customers reached. Second, for many firms, Web initiated leads are as yet few and far between. Real Estate Web Sites Real Estate firms and related businesses were among the early private sector pioneers of Internet use and have had a fast growing presence on the Web. presence on the Web. One example of the real estate sector's presence on the Internet in its pre-World Wide Web incarnation was the real estate classified bulletin board of Prodigy, the online service, which had listings for homes and other real estate. A few real estate related Web sites started in 1994 (generally regarded as the inaugural year of the Web). The New York City Real Estate Guide Web site, created in the summer of 1994, was one of the first to offer free access to the latest New York real estate information. By the summer of 1995, the site was receiving more than 100,000 inquiries a month. The real estate industry registered its entry on the Web in a dramatic way in 1995. By the end of that year there were close to 4,000 real estate Web sites. The content matter of the sites, as well as the mix of real estate related firms on the Web have changed over time. Initially, quite a few of the sites were residential real estate brokerages and listing guides, but fairly rapidly the list expanded to include commercial and retail listings, mortgage brokers, appraisers, architects, real estate attorneys, developers, construction firms, and suppliers. As investment vehicles for real estate expanded, REITs, publicly held firms, and investment advisors also added Web sites. The early real estate broker Web sites quickly took advantage of the unique features of the Web. Prospective customers could find out what properties were for sale or rent, look up detailed descriptions of each listing, view photographs and floor plans, and contact the broker by e-mail. Viewers could also look up statistical and data reports on conditions in various geographical areas and on emerging macroeconomic trends. Ever since then, the real estate industry has been among the most enthusiastic users of the Web, by some measures accounting for 4% to 6% of commercial Web sites. A survey conducted by Real Estate Broker's Insider in early 1998 confirmed that nearly 95% of the respondents/brokers had a Web site, and more than 90% of the housing stock on sale at a given time is now listed on the Web. Indeed, because of the dispersed, localized nature of the role of information in real estate, the prospective gains from information dissemination, comparability, and Web links were particularly significant in real estate. For much of the real estate sector, the Internet generates not so much the actual transactions themselves, but creates initial leads that are later followed by transactions, purchases and sales. Web sites frequently lead to contacts that are then nurtured through telephone and person-to-person meetings. For residential real estate, Web activity includes residential searches, housing details, and pricing information (both on houses and mortgages), with follow-up contact with brokers. Real estate-related transactions are seen in the hospitality industry (making reservations for hotels and vacation homes and in online mortgage applications). Mortgage and home loan finance companies report both inquiries from mortgage shoppers who obtained initial information from their Web sites, as well as closing of loans through the Web, lead to great savings in time and overhead costs. It is not just the real estate professionals who are enthusiastic about their Internet presence, judging it to be as effective as print and radio advertising. Mortgage shoppers, homebuyers and vacation rental seekers as well applaud, in particular, the convenience it brings to the entire process of searching, researching, comparing, communicating and transacting business. Beyond these sectors, many other types of real-estate related firms are using the Web to broaden their market areas, increase the depth of their marketing, and to provide a range of services to existing customers. Commercial brokers provide not only information on available sites but also on market conditions for different locations and sometimes more in-depth economic analysis of a region. REITs and other investment firms provide detailed information on their products as well as background market or economic information. Public companies provide up-to-date stock quotes and quarterly and annual reports on the Web. Web Penetration and Use: The Experience of Leading Real Estate Firms We conducted a limited survey of a sample of leading real-estate related firms in the US and California. Responses from approximately 60 of these firms showed that over four-fifths had Web Sites by March 1999. third had inaugurated their sites by the 2 Of those with Web sites, one- end of 1996. Among the earliest with a Web presence were brokers, investment firms, lenders, business and financial services firms, law firms, residential developers, and a trade organization. Another third of the group were newcomers, with sites inaugurated in 1998 or early 1999. Commercial developers were prominent among this group, with residential developers, consultants and advisors, lenders, REITs and investment firms also among this group. Those without sites were more likely to be privately held firms with a relatively narrow base of activity (for example, a commercial developer centered in the San Francisco Bay Area)? Most with Web sites used their site to provide information about the company and to market services. In addition, about one-third marketed property from their site, providing detailed information on the characteristics of buildings available, surrounding communities, and other related data. Other Web site uses include employee recruiting, providing information for members or investors, and disseminating related information on topics such as regulations or real estate markets. What does the Web specifically do for Real Estate? According to Activemedia, an internet research company, some of the sectors experiencing the greatest growth in terms of their presence on the Web in 1998 were computer hardware and software, real estate, publishing and information, finance and Internet services. A significant initial motivation for this rush for the Web is provided by, what can be termed, the "tiptoe" effect. The first ones on the Web had an additional advantage over those who did not; information on their services, products, home listings now be accessed conveniently by those with computers. The low setup cost, however, and the potential disadvantage of not having a Web presence has propelled others in the profession to set up their own sites. Real estate shares in some of the basic advantages of the Web mentioned earlier, such as ease of marketing, communication and feedback from clients, lowered costs of operations and convenience of customer service and support. In addition, the Web provides positive features specific to the real estate industry. Key elements include the following. 1.Increased geographic reach. The Web has dramatically increased the geographic reach of both buyers and sellers. Although the "local" aspect of real estate will perhaps never be whittled away completely, there is no doubt that inquiries about properties can now emanate from far away to a much greater degree than before. This, in turn, potentially increases the size and "depth" of the market and makes it more efficient. 2.Capability of visualization. In some sense, increased geographic reach has become possible due to the other emergent feature of the Web, the capability of visualization. In its most state-of-the-art form, Web sites now allow prospective buyers to take virtual tours of homes, resorts, hotels and convention centers. 3.Reduced transaction costs. The Web may reduce transactions costs. This has been particularly apparent in the case of mortgages. According to Fannie Mae, 1.5% of all mortgages were handled online this past year. The Web-attributable features that make this kind of a transaction possible are instantaneous comparability, interactive capability, online calculation, online applications, and continuous updating of the sites. 4.Improved information dissemination. The Web offers broad opportunities for increasing the scope and depth of information provided by many different types of firms. A well constructed home page gives an overview of a firm's range of services or activities. Links allow the customer or client to learn much more detail about the selected items of most interest, while ignoring less relevant pieces of information. A number of sites take advantage of the ability to link to resources beyond the company's Web pages, linking customers and clients to related Web resources. Unlike retail sectors, such as books and computer hardware, the Web as yet has not become a threat to the "middle man" role of many real estate firms. Instead, it is more likely to be used as a means of expanding services offered or locations served. However, in the long term, the Web and related Internet technology have the potential to change the structure of business activity, which in turn will affect the demand for real estate in type if not in quantity. For example, some retailers already have closed stores while expanding sales on the Web. Also, the Internet has been seen as one factor allowing the decentralization of office space. These trends to date have not led to a decline, but rather to a redistribution in the demand for office, retail and warehouse space. These are summarized .Speculation on Potential Impact of Internet on Real Estate Industry. 1.Shortening of Transaction Cycle 2.Precise Market Targeting 3.Transformed Competition 4.Cost savings:a)Marketing,b)Sales,c)Operation 5.Possibility of Disintermediation;Lowering of Commissions 6.Combination of Comparison Shopping and Direct Sales 7.Access to MBS Secondary Market How to Find the Real Estate Sector on the Web There are a few key sites that can be used to access the broad range of real-estate related Web sites. These include: www.realtor.com-Site sponsored by the National Association of Realtors, linking users to realtor, home sales and market information. www.nahb.com-Site sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders, providing a wide range of market information. www.pikenet.com-Directory to commercial real estate sites, including brokers, developers, investors and analysts. www.interestratesonline.com and www.mortgagelocator.com, two sites that provide users with information about mortgage rates, mortgage brokers and with the opportunity to submit an application online. www.nareit.com (National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts) and www.reiac.org (Real Estate Investment Advisory Council), two associations related to real estate investment trusts. www.car.org-The California Association of Realtors site. www.uli.org,the site for the Urban Land Institute, with information on the organization, programs, conferences, and publications related to real estate and land use. www.internetreview.com has three online magazines including National Real Estate Investor, Shopping Center World, and Midwest Real Estate News. An additional real estate online magazine, can available at www.ired.com. Ashok Deo Bardhan RESEARCH FELLOW Cynthia A. Kroll REGIONAL ECONOMIST