The slowing housing market nationwide (not necessarily in New York City) has been blamed for a lot of things; now, add this one to the list, according to Advertising Age:
For all publishers’ myriad problems, real-estate advertising has been a source of uninterrupted growth since the mid-1990s, as a combination of low interest rates and baby-boomer disposable income led to an unprecedented housing boom…
But the end was in sight in January, when major publishers including Tribune Co., McClatchy Co. and Lee Enterprises posted real-estate-ad declines in the high single digits. Economic reports projecting steep falloff in new housing sales and starts make further ad declines all but inevitable.
There’s also Craigslist–that can’t be helping.
– Tom Acitelli
