Industry Notes

April foreclosures up 32% year-over-year. According to data from RealtyTrac, more than 342,000 households (about one in every 374 U.S. housing units) received foreclosures notices in April 2009. April was the second consecutive month with more than 300,000 households receiving foreclosure filings. Nevada, Florida and California led the nation in foreclosure rates. To read more, visit USAToday.com.

Century 21 creates ad partnership with Realtor.com. The "Gold Standard Partnership" provides subsidies for franchise owners for the costs of listing enhancements on the Web site. Enhancements include up to 25 large property images, neighborhood information, open-house aletrs, full-motion videos and virtual tours. The deal is the next step in Century 21's move away from television ads in favor of online advertising. For more information visit Inman News.

HomeGain adds Google street views to home prices tool. The addition of Google street views to the HomeGain Web site allows users to view homes as if they were standing on the curb. In addition to viewing static photos, users can "walk" down the street and view neighboring homes in order to get a feel for the overall look of the area. For more information on HomeGain's home values tool, part of the AgentView product, visit Rismedia.

Realtor.com announces marketing alliance with Long & Foster. The new partnership will offer all Long & Foster listins prominent company branding wherever the listins appear on the Web site, including search results pages. For more information on the program, visit Rismedia.com.

Zillow launches GPS-enabled iPhone app. The iPhone app uses GPS technology to pinpoint a user's location and display Zestimate® values on homes in the immediate area. As the individual moves through a neighborhood information is updated and new homes are featured. The app will also feature home details, historical data, contact info for 3.4 million for-sale listings, data on recently-sold homes and more. For more information, go to rismedia.com.