SOURCE: Luxury Institute

August 05, 2008 11:00 ET

Luxury Institute Survey: Wealthy U.S. Consumers Rate the Most Prestigious Real Estate Websites: Luxuryrealestate.com, Weichertcapital.com and Realtor.com

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - August 5, 2008) - High net-worth consumers rated Luxuryrealestate.com the most prestigious real estate website in the 2008 Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI) survey from the independent New York City-based Luxury Institute (www.LuxuryInstitute.com). Respondents who would recommend Luxuryrealestate.com say it has "high-end, lovely homes," "easy access to information," and "meaningful detail on properties listed." Weichertcapital.com and Realtor.com rank second and third respectively.

"Luxury real estate websites that are independent networks, or that belong to a brokerage firm, are often where wealthy consumers go first to decide if they want to create a relationship with the brand," said Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute. "It is critical to understand what high net-worth consumers think of the core benefits that these sites try to deliver. In a year where even luxury real estate is down significantly, we found that many luxury real estate sites did not generate enough wealthy consumers who stated they were familiar with the site to receive a rating, an indication that traffic and interest are both down."

Following are the real estate websites rated by wealthy consumers in alphabetical order:

1. Century21.com
2. Coldwellbankerpreviews.com
3. ERA.com
4. Luxuryrealestate.com
5. Prudentialproperties.com
6. Realtor.com
7. Remax.com
8. Sothebysrealty.com
9. Weichertcapital.com

The proprietary Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI) survey is the only measure of the prestige of leading brands among wealthy Americans. A national sample of 1,666 wealthy American consumers was surveyed online. The average income was $348K and the average net-worth was $3.7 million,. The LBSI asks respondents to rate the websites along four main "pillars" of brand stature:

--  Consistently superior innovation
--  Helpful and relevant content
--  Appropriate properties and services
--  Ease of use
    

The survey also measures three key "outcome" metrics, which are compared to the category LBSI:

--  Worthiness of a significant price premium as a proxy for value
    delivered by the site
--  Willingness to recommend the website to people they care about and
    why, or why not.
--  Brand preference as the brand most likely to be considered the next
    time a purchase is made
    

A new feature is the question, '"What is the one thing you would change about each website, if you could?"

Survey results are weighted to match demographic and net-worth profiles of the same audience according to the latest Survey of Consumer Finances from The Federal Reserve.

About the Luxury Institute

The Luxury Institute is the uniquely independent and impartial ratings, reviews and research institution that is the trusted and respected voice of the high net-worth consumer. The Institute provides a portfolio of proprietary publications and research that guides and educates high net-worth individuals and the companies that cater to them on leading edge trends, high net-worth consumer rankings and ratings of luxury brands, and best practices. The Luxury Institute also operates the Luxury Board (www.LuxuryBoard.com), the world's first global, membership-based online community for luxury goods and services executives, professionals and entrepreneurs. To reach the Luxury Institute, please call 646-792-2669 or go to www.LuxuryInstitute.com.