Where have all the home buyers gone? Apparently, they are perched on the edge of their chairs, eyes glued to real estate websites on their computer screens.

As counterintuitive as it may seem, the audience for real estate websites is growing even though the housing market is slumping. Buyers may not be buying, but they

haven’t stopped window-shopping.

ComScore Media Metrix, which measures the digital world, reported that real estate Internet sites had almost 42 million unique visitors in January, a traffic

increase of about 5% over January 2007. The audience for the entire Internet was estimated at about 184 million visitors, meaning those who visit real estate sites

online made up almost 23%.

And the online business world is cognitive of the fact that people are flocking to real estate sites. Following on the heels of such sites as Move, Trulia and

Zillow, which see several million visitors a month, at least four new national housing search engines have been launched since November. And existing sites continue

to add new features.

The newcomers, all of which basically allow the public to scan home listings in a variety of ways, haven’t yet hit the radar of Andrew Lipsman, senior analyst for

comScore.com. But, he said, real estate sites generally see an increase in traffic when the market is changing and the public wants to stay informed about where

things stand. He added that the innovators in the field of home search engines – Trulia and Zillow – have shown how successful the venue can be, and no one should

be surprised that others hope to mimic their success.

The newcomers include:

* HotPads.com. The site was started by three former University of Notre Dame roommates, out in the real world for just six months. HotPads offers an easy-to-use

map-based search that provides listings for both rentals and properties for sale. There’s also a buy-versus-rent feature that helps you decide which option makes

the most financial sense. Ease of use? Not bad, but it’s a bit graphic-busy.

* Roost. A free, uncluttered site with a “just the facts, ma’am” attitude. The site’s goal is to be the best at searching, period. No social networking, not a

portal. It claims hourly updates, but the market isn’t moving that fast, and nobody seems to be chasing down new listings.

* DotHomes. Another free site, it offers short descriptions of properties to buy or rent, then links to agent sites. That’s fairly standard, but it also offers heat

maps of local prices and enables video uploads for home sellers who think the posted photos just don’t do their home justice.

* Zilpy. Zilpy is a free online rental-market facts-and-analysis service delivered with speed and gusto. It has nifty graphics and detailed info about the rental

markets, broken down into specific neighborhoods.

It doesn’t include places that take pets – an increasing problem for those foreclosed-upon homeowners who now rent – but the site has everything else, except the

actual listing of apartments for rent, which isn’t its intended purpose. Yet.

And some new features from an old standby:

* ZipRealty. Zip will evaluate your imaginary offer with its “Offer Evaluator,” which uses comps in the neighborhood and then tells you the statistical likelihood

of the seller taking what you want to pay. All the while, of course, the smiling face of a ZipRealty agent hangs out on the left of your screen, urging you to call.

But the Zipsters are a democratic lot. A new feature invites clients to rate the homes listed for sale, which opens the door to posts such as this about an El

Segundo home:

“Pros: square footage, 5+ bdrm!! Wine cooler in kitchen.

Cons: USC flag

Great size and options, more to offer than others at this price, less than others so look around. You might come back to this ‘Trojan.’ ”