INDIANAPOLIS - A new Web site that connects people seeking affordable housing with landlords is drawing traffic days before its formal launch, highlighting the demand for the service.

The Indiana Coalition on Housing and Homeless Issues will inaugurate the www.indianahousingnow.org Web site with the Indianapolis metropolitan area market, and it expects to cover the entire state within six months, said Michael Reinke, the groups' executive director. Plans also are under way for Evansville, Bloomington, Columbus and Fort Wayne.

Until the June 8 formal launch of the site, properties that already have been listed can be accessed at www.socialserve.com and then clicking on the link for Indiana. As of Friday, it listed more than 600 properties, mostly in the Indianapolis area. Already, it's averaging about 500 hits per day, Reinke said.

The site aims to eliminate a common hassle faced by those looking for housing: spending large amounts of time on the telephone or driving around town looking for a unit that's not only affordable, but available.

An interactive database at the site allows people to sort available units by their monthly rent, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and ZIP code. Additional filters sort out accessibility for those with disabilities, the proximity of public transit, whether the landlord accepts federal Section 8 vouchers and other criteria.

"One of the biggest issues for affordable housing is, how do you link up the existing resources with people who need the help?" Reinke said. "What we're doing is essentially making the entire market available for people who need to find affordable housing."

It's going to save social service agencies time.

The Information and Referral Network, which operates the 211 social services helpline for eight central Indiana counties, takes about 2,600 calls per year on affordable housing. Those calls last an average of 18 minutes, or more than twice the average length of all calls, because the network tries to provide as many as 10 housing options, said executive director Lynn Engel.

The Web site will allow agencies to zero in on the potential tenant's needs. It saves time for the housing shoppers, the agencies and also the landlords, who will field fewer calls and may end with tenants who've found what they're looking for and stay longer.

"I think there is a huge need," Engel said.

Indiana is the eighth state for the socialserve.com software program marketed by Non-Profit Industries, a not-for profit organization based in Charlotte, N.C.

The program will cost the Indiana Coalition just over $100,000 this year and $60,000 per year for subsequent years. Funding is being provided so far by organizations including the Indiana Housing Finance Authority, Fannie Mae and the Indiana Civil Rights Commission.

"To me it made a lot of sense," said Sherry Seiwert, executive director of the finance authority. "It's a small investment for a significant return."

Tenants and landlords, however, access the Web site for free. They're already learning about it through the sponsoring organizations and the social service agencies.

"To the people who need it, it's free," Reinke said.