Zillow.com chooses Digital Map Products to deliver parcel boundary data, adding enhanced information to online real estate site

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Apr 22, 2008 3 mins

Online real estate data for Zillow is provided by LightBox DMP. The enhanced parcel boundary data will help site users make…

Online real estate data helps Zillow users make better decisions

Santa Ana, CA –April 22, 2008 – Digital Map Products (DMP) (www.digmap.com) today announced the popular online real estate data website Zillow.com® has added DMP’s enhanced parcel boundary data to help its users make more informed real estate decisions. This enhanced online real estate data will allow buyers, sellers and homeowners to get more precise information about homes on Zillow.com.

Zillow.com said it turned to Digital Map Products for the company’s expertise in aggregating a wide range of spatial-based data, including parcel boundaries and delivering it in an affordable and convenient format.

“Consumers understand that parcel boundary data is a critical piece of information for any property and is a must-have for researching real estate,” said Jorrit Van der Meulen, Vice President of Partner Relations at Zillow.com. “Digital Map Products makes it easy for us to enhance and update the parcel boundary data on our site. By using DMP’s data, Zillow can display the most accurate parcel boundaries without having to dedicate valuable in-house technical resources.”

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Consumers discovering the value of parcel data in online real estate
James Skurzynski, President of Digital Map Products, said online real estate websites now consider parcel data an essential tool for buyers and sellers and that since 2006, DMP’s SpatialStream® data has helped numerous online real estate sites incorporate parcel boundary data using the company’s unique web services approach to maximize efficient integration.

“In the early days of online real estate, it was enough to have a satellite photo that showed the general location of the property,” Skurzynski said. “But consumers have become more sophisticated and they now demand to see the exact boundaries of the lot and its features.”

“Our customers, who include many of the major real estate sites, need to have current, easy-to-display parcel boundaries to remain competitive. Our web-based application lets them add parcel boundaries almost immediately as DMP takes care of the difficult task of collecting, storing, displaying and updating the parcel data,” Skurzynski said.

Parcel boundary data, which is recorded by county governments, is often overlaid on an aerial image of the property. Parcel data can help consumers identify trends, development patterns, and other opportunities. It also lets them virtually “flyover” properties to search for lots by size and shape, see amenities like ponds and streams, and gauge a property’s proximity to neighbors.

Digital Map Products has been aggregating parcel boundary and other parcel data for more than a decade. DMP created the first public-private partnership for parcel data sharing and is now the largest source of parcel boundary data in the United States. Its SpatialStream® application was developed to provide a fast, easy and economical way to parcel-enable real estate applications.

Information about SpatialStream® is available at our streaming parcel data site. You can request a free trial of the API.

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About Zillow.com
Zillow.com is an online real estate community where homeowners, buyers, sellers, real estate agents, and mortgage professionals find and share vital information about homes, for free. Launched in early 2006 with Zestimate® values and data on millions of U.S. homes, Zillow has since opened the site to community input, data, and dialogue. One of the most-visited U.S. real estate Web sites, Zillow’s goal is to help people become smarter about real estate in every stage of the home ownership process– buying, selling, remodeling, and financing. The company is headquartered in Seattle and has raised $87 million in funding.

Zillow.com, Zillow, and Zestimate are registered trademarks of Zillow, Inc. To learn more, visit www.Zillow.com.

About Digital Map Products
Digital Map Products, headquartered in Irvine, CA, is the leading provider of cloud-based location technology and content solutions that bring the power of spatial technology to over 350,000 mainstream business, government and consumer users. SpatialStream®, the company’s spatial development platform, enables API access to mapping technology and location data sets. Its SmartParcels® nationwide parcel and property datasets provide unparalleled location context, accuracy, and interactivity. The company’s SaaS products include LandVision™ for real estate and GOVCLARITY®® for local government. For more information, visit www.digmap.com.