As markets convulse this week, Trulia (usually in innovator in real estate tech) launched an new blog copycatting Zillow's tabloid-style coverage of real estate news of the filthy rich. Trulia Luxe Living highlights real estate properties belonging to celebrities, athletes and plain-old opulence. I know gossip and dishy news about the personal lives and finances of megalomillionaires drives traffic, but I think it's a bit of a step back for one of my favorite listing websites.
One of the reasons I preferred Trulia over Zillow is that Trulia never took a TMZ-style approach to real estate, and stuck to quality listings, innovative hyperlocal tools and professional advice. Besides possibly being slightly in bad taste, a focus on multimillion dollar palaces than few people can afford might entertain the real estate obsessed, but it will drive away serious consumers and transactional traffic, Trulia's most valuable user base.
