Certain categories have seen good mobile/iPhone applications developed and others have not. I would put Real Estate in the latter category. Real Estate as an industry is known as a late adopter of technology, and apparently the mobile space is no different. Zillow, however, has launched a web application (not downloadable) allowing users to search for properties by street address, city, state or zip. I haven't been able to try it out yet, but it sounds good.
It is surprising that none of the larger real estate sites had an application ready at the launch of iPhone apps because of the natural fit of RE for the mobile space. It's natural to be out taking a walk, see a For Sale sign and want to know the price/bedroom/bath/etc. Or to be able to find open houses near your location.
While Zillow is getting a start, there are limitations to a web app which would be overcome with a downloadable iPhone app (which I'm sure Zillow is working on). The ability to easily save properties to your phone is one, but the bigger one is the ability to tap into the GPS/location-aware features of your phone to reduce the need to type in an address. As I've said, I'm sure it's coming, but hopefully it'll be here soon.
Touch-Tap-Click-Push…Search Properties From Your Mobile Browser | Zillow® Blog
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