Roost Helps Home-Hunters Learn ‘Real Estate Speak’

Study analyzes words used in thousands of property-for-sale listings; reveals most in-demand features and markets most impacted by price reductions

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Roost, the most comprehensive search engine for homes, today released its ‘Real Estate Speak’ Study (http://blog.roost.com/), an analysis of the most popular words brokers use to describe homes for sale. Roost analyzed data for over 250,000 home listings across nine major metropolitan cities to find the top ten adjectives used to describe homes – and discover how they vary by city and price range.

“This study provides a fascinating insight into real estate trends around the country”

The nine major metropolitan areas covered by the study are: Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., Dallas, Miami, Orange County, San Francisco, San Jose and St. Louis. ‘New’ is the most popular adjective across all cities. ‘Nice’ is predominantly used to describe homes under $250,000, while ‘gourmet’ is only used in homes above $1 million. ‘Beautiful’ is the most commonly-used subjective term, with more homes in Miami being described as ‘beautiful’ than in any other city.

Additional searches revealed the top 20 most frequently used subjective words (‘perfect’, ‘gorgeous’, ‘wonderful’ and ‘lovely’ topped the list) and the top 20 most quirky adjectives (such as ‘wow’, ‘cool’, ‘savvy’ and ‘fussiest’).

Roost’s study also reveals which cities have been most affected by sliding house prices. The company’s analysis shows the number of listings featuring the terms ‘reduced’ or ‘reduction’ – indicating a price reduction – in their descriptions. Washington D.C. fared worst, followed by Orange County, CA.

“This study provides a fascinating insight into real estate trends around the country,” said Alex Chang, CEO of Roost. “Just by examining the words used to describe homes, we can get a sense of the tastes and styles in each area and the challenges of each housing market. Buyers and sellers alike can learn which features and characteristics are most marketed in their city and within their price range – and make decisions accordingly.”

Roost offers homebuyers the most complete and up-to-date homes for sale content on the Web in 23 regional markets. Roost partners with the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and local brokers to provide a search engine that provides consumers access to all publicly available homes for sale data via a network of individual broker sites accessed via the Roost.com search engine. By doing this, Roost ensures consumers receive a single, consistent experience for searching comprehensive property listings. Roost also provides homebuyers access to For Sale by Owner listings and New Construction listings in order to ensure a truly comprehensive experience.

Methodology for ‘Real Estate Speak’ Study rankings

Roost has the most comprehensive homes for sale data, with approximately 1.5 million listings in total. The Real Estate Speak Study was conducted by analyzing all words used across all property listings for the nine target metropolitan areas and calculating their frequency of use. Headline results can be found below and a full report is available at http://www.roost.com.

Rankings:

Cities with the highest number of listings referencing price reductions (percentage represents approximate proportion of total home listings):

1. Washington D.C. (8%)

2. Orange County, CA (5.9%)

3. San Jose, CA (5.6%)

4. San Francisco, CA (5%)

5. St. Louis, MO (4%)

6. Dallas, Boston, Chicago, Miami (2%)

Top twenty adjectives used to describe homes, by frequency:

1. New

2. Large

3. Great

4. Beautiful

5. Open

6. Huge

7. Finished

8. Spacious

9. Custom

10. Newer

11. Nice

12. Updated

13. Private

14. Fenced

15. Colonial

16. Gourmet

17. Covered

18. Lower

19. Remodeled

20. Formal

Top twenty quirky adjectives used to describe homes, by frequency:

1. Wow

2. Cool

3. Savvy

4. Fussiest

5. Paradise

6. Nesters

7. Handsome

8. Viking

9. Peacock

10. Cookie

11. Heaven

12. Imagine

13. Purification

14. Army

15. Princess

16. Shake

17. Swan

18. Mohawk

19. Weeping

20. Fragrant

Top twenty subjective words used to describe homes overall:

1. Perfect

2. Gorgeous

3. Wonderful

4. Lovely

5. Quiet

6. Updated

7. Entertaining

8. Easy

9. Oversized

10. Old

11. Fabulous

12. Beautifully

13. Stunning

14. Charming

15. Spacious

16. Potential

17. Plenty

18. Luxury

19. Style

20. Quality

Top twenty adjectives used to describe homes, by price:

	Homes less than $250,000	Homes $251,000 to $500,000	Homes $501,000 to $750,000	Homes $751,000 to $1,000,000	Homes $1,000,000 to $1,500,000	Homes $1,500,000 to $2,000,000	Homes more than $2,000,000
1.	New	New	New	New	Custom	Custom	Custom
2.	Large	Large	Large	Large	Large	Large	Private
3.	Great	Great	Great	Custom	New	New	Large
4.	Beautiful	Beautiful	Beautiful	Great	Private	Private	New
5.	Nice	Open	Custom	Beautiful	Beautiful	Beautiful	Beautiful
6.	Newer	Spacious	Huge	Private	Great	Gourmet	Great
7.	Open	Finished	Open	Open	Open	Great	Gourmet
8.	Updated	Huge	Finished	Huge	Huge	Huge	Gated
9.	Finished	Newer	Spacious	Finished	Gourmet	Open	Formal
10.	Fenced	Updated	Private	Spacious	Spacious	Formal	Huge
11.	Huge	Custom	Colonial	Gourmet	Formal	Center	Spectacular
12.	Spacious	Fenced	Remodeled	Formal	Finished	Spacious	Open
13.	Paint	Nice	Gourmet	Colonial	Cherry	Finished	Stunning
14.	Covered	Well	Newer	Remodeled	Remodeled	Cherry	Finished
15.	Lower	Colonial	Story	Paint	Colonial	Construction	Magnificent
16.	Ranch	Private	Paint	Lower	Gorgeous	Remodeled	Spacious
17.	Sold	Remodeled	Nice	Covered	Built	Colonial	Cherry
18.	Big	Lower	Panel	Gated	Lower	Designed	Colonial
19.	Owned	Covered	Gorgeous	Corner	Luxury	Covered	Grand
20.	Single	Gorgeous	Lower	Updated	Updated	Fabulous	Designer

For more information on the top ten adjectives in each metropolitan city and the top ten adjectives by city and price range, visit (http://blog.roost.com/).

About Roost

Roost is an innovative online real estate platform that combines a network of individual real estate broker Web sites with a comprehensive search engine. Roost offers new search technology, an intuitive, visual interface and the most comprehensive property listings to help users find a home and find it fast. The company works collaboratively with Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) and real estate brokers in each region to provide up-to-date, accurate data. Roost.com currently lists homes for sale in thousands of other cities across the nation including; Atlanta; Baltimore; Boise; Boston; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Fort Worth; Houston; Miami; Minneapolis; Orange County; Orlando; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Portland; Sacramento; San Diego; St. Paul; Tampa; Silicon Valley; St. Louis; and Washington D.C. areas, ensuring the results for each local search are complete. Founded in 2007, Roost.com is based in San Francisco, Calif. To start your home search, visit http://www.roost.com. Keep your eye on Roost.