ZipRealty Appoints Lanny Baker as Chief Financial Officer

EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ZipRealty, Inc. (Nasdaq: ZIPR) today announced that Lanny Baker has agreed to join the Company and will assume the role of Chief Financial Officer of the Company, effective December 1, 2008. David Rector, Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer, and Chief Financial Officer, will remain with the Company as Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer. Mr. Rector has been with ZipRealty since 2002 and has served in the role of Chief Accounting Officer since May 2004.

From 2005 to 2007, Mr. Baker served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Monster Worldwide, Inc., a $1.2 billion online recruitment services leader operating in 38 countries with 5,300 employees. In that capacity, he managed a global team of 180 finance professionals and directed financial strategy, planning and analysis, tax, treasury, audit, control, reporting, investor relations and corporate communications. He also had lead responsibility for corporate strategy development, long-term growth objectives, global investment priorities, and internal performance measurement processes.

Prior to that, Mr. Baker was an Equity Research Analyst at Citigroup, Inc., from 1993 to 2005, where he was named Managing Director in 2000 and covered the internet, ecommerce, radio, and television broadcasting industries. He was regularly recognized as a leading equity research analyst by both Institutional Investor magazine and Greenwich Associates surveys. Mr. Baker previously followed the newspaper and information publishing industries as Vice President and Equity Research Analyst at Morgan Stanley from 1991 to 1993. He began his career at Donaldson, Lufkin, & Jenrette as an Associate, Equity Research, where he worked from 1989 to 1991.

Pat Lashinsky, President and Chief Executive Officer of ZipRealty, commented, “We are very excited to welcome Lanny Baker to ZipRealty as our new Chief Financial Officer. Lanny shares our excitement about the opportunity we see in our business model and market position, and we expect he will make significant contributions to our strategic development, long-term financial planning, and capital allocation decisions. We look forward to leveraging his highly regarded skill set as we execute our plan and position ZipRealty for future success.”

“We would also like to thank Dave Rector for his strong efforts as our Chief Financial Officer and are pleased that he will continue to serve us as our Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer. Dave has exemplified unwavering dedication to our Company for many years and remains a valuable member of our executive team. We expect a smooth transition as Lanny assumes his new role.”

Mr. Baker holds a Bachelor of Arts in history degree from Yale College. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Knot, Inc. (Nasdaq: KNOT), where he is Chairman of both the Audit Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

About ZipRealty, Inc.

ZipRealty is a full-service residential real estate brokerage firm. The Company utilizes its user-friendly website and employee real estate agents to provide homebuyers and sellers with high-quality service and value. ZipRealty's website provides users with access to comprehensive local Multiple Listing Services home listings data, as well as other relevant market and neighborhood information. The Company's proprietary business management system and technology platform help to reduce costs, allowing the Company to pass on significant savings to consumers. Founded in 1999, the company operates in 35 major markets in 20 states and the District of Columbia. For more information on ZipRealty, visit www.ziprealty.com or call 1-800-CALL-ZIP.

Cautionary Language

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the federal securities laws, including, without limitation, statements regarding the opportunity in our business model and market position, expectations that Mr. Baker will make significant contributions to our strategic development, long-term financial planning, and capital allocation decisions; and leveraging Mr. Baker’s highly regarded skill set as we execute our plan and position our Company for future success. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Some of these risks and uncertainties are described in our SEC filings, including those set forth in the Company's Form 10-Q for the third quarter of fiscal year 2008, and other filings with the SEC. The forward-looking statements included in this release are made as of today’s date and, except as otherwise required by law, ZipRealty does not intend to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.