Whether or not you are actively looking to buy or sell a home, it is interesting to keep tabs on the rea estate market. There are a variety of tools that are fun to explore to this end.

I love Zillow. This company out of Seattle was founded by a few Expedia alums that sought to provide better visibility to real estate pricing. The result is a website where you can map a property address and see the valuation of it and the surrounding properties. They literally provide an estimate (or a Zestimate, as they call it) for over 65 million homes. Essentially, this site is not only a fun interface, but is allows you to do your own real estate comparables and market research. They are adding metropolitan areas all the time and they claim a high accuracy rate. Check it out!

Another tool that is useful is one offered by a local real estate agent in Portland, Oregon powered by PDXHomeQuest and is now offered also in Seattle and San Diego. It is an email service that will provide you with the new listings in any price range or neighborhood that you specify, allowing you to keep tabs on MLS activity in your area. To sign up for the service in Portland, visit Donna Erickson's website.

Now these are useful tools and show the power of using data to create useful decision-driving information. I am always on the look-out for tools of this type.