“Real estate analysts say…would-be flippers stopped buying in 2006. People who bought condos before 2005 might still make money or at least break even if they sell soon, the analysts say, but those who bought at the height of the mania stand to lose a bundle.”
? Abby Goodnough, “As Condos Rise in South Florida, Nervous Investors Try to Flee,” New York Times, May 25, 2007
The tales of investor woes emanating from Miami resonated with readers of the Times this week. Real estate speculation built a foundation in Buzz back in 2004 and interest in the television show “Flip This House” remains strong. In general, TV ratings of real estate shows have blossomed as the market has flattened.
“Flip This House” follows a patented story arc of buying a home at its lowest point, fixing it up, and then selling for a tidy profit. But is flipping a game for everyone? Searches on “house flipping tips,” “how to flip a house,” and “house flipping 101” indicate that the concept of flipping still intrigues despite its inherent risks.
Studious flippers made mad dollars in an overheated real estate market, but crafty speculators have now moved on to the foreclosure market. Searches on “foreclosure homes,” “foreclosure listings,” and “bank foreclosures” have all jumped in the past week as folks look for a way to cash in on a down market.
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Have You Flipped?
“Heroes” is huge. You know it. We know it. Now “24“’s Jack Bauer knows it too. The “Heroes” season finale topped its Fox-y competition?both in the ratings and the Buzz.
Searches on “Heroes” spiked 78%, pushing the show into our top 100 overall terms. Interest in “heroes season finale” and “heroes spoilers” also soared. Contrast that with “24.” Following its finale, the struggling serial surged 43% and landed among our top 250 queries. Not a bad showing, but by no means heroic.
“Heroes”‘ status as a Buzz monster is well established, but can the show keep up the momentum? The highway is littered with programs like “The Apprentice” that started strong but wound up ratings roadkill. For the sake of all humanity, here’s hoping “the cheerleader” can avoid “the Donald”’s tragic fate.
‘Heroes’ Saves the Day
The popularity of women’s sports is growing. We’d like to think it’s because the public has become more open-minded. Alas, we suspect the real reason is humankind’s increased appetite for well-toned hotties.
One of the hottest female athletes, both in appearance and in Search, is Amanda Beard. The Olympic swimmer??is a??favorite of the fellas, drawing 90% of her searches from guys. And she caters to her fanbase admirably, having appeared in “FHM” and “Sports Illustrated”’s swimsuit issue.
But those pictorials were just warm up laps. Ms. Beard’s buzz has finally hit its stride thanks to her shedding her swimsuit for “Playboy.” Queries on the??gold medal winner??are up 678% this month and show no sign of fading down the stretch.
Does??Beard’s posing in the altogether help or hurt women’s sports? Will it make it harder for other female athletes to be taken seriously, or is any publicity good publicity? What do you think?
You’ve Swum a Long Way, Baby
We don’t want to get anybody in trouble, but ever since the U.S. Army shoved 13 web sites on the no-no list for troops overseas, we’ve seen a serious rash of “unblocking” buzz.
Citing squeezed bandwidth on the Department of Defense servers, the military prohibited access to such popular destinations as MySpace, YouTube, MTV, Pandora, and iFilm. Searches for “unblocker,” “unblock websites,” and “unblock sites” promptly rose defiantly. (So did editorials with titles like “The Military Blog Ban.” Ouch!)
Yet again, MySpace proves its colossal popularity by drawing the most searches from users hoping to??slip past the ban. Buzz??on terms such as??”unblock myspace proxy” and “ways to unblock myspace” has surged. However, men and women in uniform aren’t the only ones seeking clever ways to access the music-sharing, friend-making site. In the last week alone, “unblock myspace at school” drew a big chunk of queries. Just watch out for teacher?or sergeant.
All Blocked Up