NYT Launches New Real Estate Sites

The New York Times Co. has launched two vertical content sites for the real estate market, targeting luxury home listings and the mortgage process.

“Great Homes” combines original content with destination and lifestyle guides, videos, slide shows and interactive maps. It will also feature existing stories from the Times and its regional sites, including the The Boston Globe, the International Herald Tribune, The Ledger (Lakeland, Fla.), Sarasota Herald-Tribune and The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.).

“The New York Times Company is uniquely positioned to expand our focus on luxury real estate,” Vivian Schiller, senior VP and general manager of NYTimes.com, said in a statement. “Our new online addition, ‘Great Homes,’ takes advantage of our collection of luxury home listings, and combines that with our unparalleled coverage of the luxury and vacation home market from the pages of The Times.”

Advertisers can buy rich media ads on either site, and select luxury and second-home classifieds ads will be featured on Great Homes. The Times’ entire database of real estate listings will also be searchable from the site.

Great Homes will focus on the lifestyle of each area, highlighting dining, shopping and recreation in various regions. The site also includes Times articles on overall real estate trends, as well as area history and architecture.

The second new site, “Home Finance Center,” is designed as a guide to the mortgage process, with mortgage calculators and other tools alongside exclusive and repurposed content. Sponsored tools include mortgage and home equity charts from Bankrate.com; the Mortgage Finder, powered by FormServer; and a toll-free calling service from LeadPoint which connects visitors directly with a lender.

“We understand that financing a home is complex,” Schiller said. “Now our readers can rely on us, as a trusted online advisor, to also help navigate the mortgage process.”