This last month a major event occured within the newspaper publishing world. Just in case you missed it, the LA Times announced that they would no longer publish a dedicated real estate section. The announcement comes as no surprise as competition from online real estate advertising sites has been gaining over the last few quarters. Lauren Beale, Real Estate Editor, with the LA Times posted this blog: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2008/07/a-good-steady-m.html on the decision. In her post she describes an era in which one would never imagine a world without a real estate section in the local newsprint publication. The final edition of the LA Times Real Estate Section was published on the same day. In 2006 it was estimated that real estate advertising had surpassed the $16 Billion dollar a year threshold. Predictions from media experts indicated that online real estate advertising would rise from a share of 11% to well over 60% by 2010. In 2007 several large regional real estate firms dropped their presence in local print newspapers in order to devote their advertising dollars toward online marketing opportunities. Many studies have concluded that over 80% of homebuyers turn to the internet for real estate information. According to the California Association of REALTORS, as much as 40% of all home purchases in their home states were as a direct result of a homebuyer’s search on the internet. Newspaper readership amongst adults has steadily declined over the last decade. The latest studies reveal that approximately one out of three adults read newspapers for daily news. It’s no secret that this trend is in line with generational shifts. As more and more Baby Boomers join the ranks of the Gen X, Gen Y and Millennials who choose the Internet as their primary source of information, print readership will be relegated to the ranks of non-adoptive Baby Boomers and Traditionalist. Submitted by: Jonathan D. Nicholas, ABR, CRB, CRS, GRI President, Leaders Choice jonathan@jonathannicholas.com