• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, July 23, 2012

With the national residential real estate market possibly reaching its bottom, and premium markets scarcely affected by the downturn, The Wall Street Journal is calculating that the time is right for a new real estate section, which will appear on Fridays beginning in late September or early October, according to the newspaper.
 
The as-yet-unnamed section will be 16 pages long and will be produced by a team of up to 10 new staffers. While focusing on the U.S. market, it will also cater to the WSJ’s globetrotting readership with coverage of premium neighborhoods and properties around the world.

A substantial amount of coverage will be devoted to New York City and the metropolitan area -- putting the WSJ in direct competition once again with The New York Times.
 
On the online side, the WSJ’s real estate reporting will include more video content and slideshows about premium properties. Existing print real estate coverage -- including the real estate page in WSJ’s daily Greater New York section -- will continue to appear as usual, according to the newspaper.
 
The decision to launch a new real estate section comes amid moves by owner News Corp. to spin off its newspaper properties and focus on its entertainment business, in a bid to avoid regulatory scrutiny in the U.S. and U.K. resulting from the phone-hacking scandal at its defunct News of the World tabloid.
 
It’s also the latest in a series of challenges to the NYT by the WSJ, which has launched a number of new sections to compete for high-end advertisers in categories including luxury, housewares, and fashion.
 
In 2010 the WSJ introduced its Greater New York section, angling for Manhattan-based retail advertising; a weekend lifestyle magazine, competing for luxury and fashion advertising, and a book review section.

The newspaper also launched its own travel agency and wine club.