Real-Estate Search Providers Catching IPO Fever

One of the fastest growing web trends is real-estate search, mainly because this market is crowded with highly competitive companies that offer uses maximum convenience when looking for a new home.  Among the top players in this space is Trulia, which will soon go public, according to chief executive Pete Flint.  He has declined to comment on reports his company scheduled its IPO for 2012, but made it very clear that this is the course they’ve chosen to take.

“Flint said the San Francisco-based company has raised $33 million in venture capital and was no longer interested in seeking private equity. “We are really focused on the IPO,” he said.”

News of Trulia’s plans come after competitor Zillow, that has about 20.8 million unique monthly visitors (compared to Turtila’s 17 million unique visitors) went public last summer. The company raised an impressive $69.2 million.

Trulia and Zillow have been competing with each other for a while now.  The former launched a estimated home valuations tool to complete Zillow’s Zestimate service, and they launched their mobile apps within the same timeframe.

There have been talks of a second tech bubble this year and in 2010, due to a wave of successful IPOs. One example of that is IZEA, a social media marketing firm that raised $3.3 after selling about 30,000 shares in an IPO.

There are many smaller players that have their success stories, but the high profile public offerings – including the ones that are anticipated somewhere down the road — are only helping to drive this trend along.  Facebook’s valuation is expected to skyrocket past the $100 billion mark as it nears an expected IPO, and Groupon also has high expectations. The daily deals giant filed for an IPO with the SEC –  Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse are the underwriters, and the company hopes to raises about $750 million.