This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
SELLER confidence pushed listings higher in the September quarter, helping News Corp’s REA Group, operator of the realestate.com.au and realcommercial.com.au property portals, to record a 21% year-on-year increase in revenue.
REA Group netted $413 million in revenue in the quarter, and operating earnings lifted 23% on the prior corresponding period (pcp) to $243 million.
“Seller confidence continued to drive a strong listings environment in Q1, delivering greater choice for buyers and some moderation in house price growth,” said REA Group CEO Owen Wilson.
“In this healthy market, we hit new audience records and our customers increasingly leveraged the value of our premium products differentiate their properties. This underpinned the strength of our financial performance.”
National listings lifted 7% in the September quarter, with the major markets of Sydney and Melbourne seeing respective rises of 11% and 9%. That drove Australian residential business revenue to be higher by 23%. Buy yield benefited from a 10% average price rise in its Premiere+ offering, increased depth and Premiere+ penetration and growth in add-ons. Rent revenue increased with an 8% average price rise, growth in depth penetration and an 8% increase in listings.
Its realestate.com.au portal received visits from 11.9 million people each month on average, with 6.2 million exclusively using realestate.com.au. There were 132.4 million average monthly visits to the portal, which REA Group said is 4.0 times more visits than the nearest competitor.
There were 4.0 million unique properties tracked by their owner on realestate.com.au, up 33% year-on-year, and the platform generated 2.3 million enquiries per month, REA Group said, up 7%.
“As we move further into FY25 it’s clear that the Australian property market remains in good health reflecting the expectations of future interest rate cuts, together with high employment and population growth,” Wilson said.
New buy listings were up 14% year-on-year in October, with Sydney and Melbourne listings increasing 14% and 12% respectively, with Brisbane and Perth growing at a faster pace.
REA Group said year-on-year growth rates for the second half of the financial year will reflect very strong prior period listings volumes, particularly for Sydney and Melbourne.
Core Australian revenue increased 20% year-on-year, reflecting double-digit yield growth and continued listings growth across both the residential and commercial businesses.
Commercial and developer revenue increased during the quarter, with stronger growth in commercial revenues tempered by more modest growth for developer. Commercial revenues were driven by an average 12% price rise and increased depth penetration and listings. Developer revenues increased, with longer project duration and a price rise from more than offsetting an 11% decline in project commencements.
Revenues from its media, data and other streams grew during the quarter. CampaignAgent delivered strong revenue growth driven by increased customers and higher utilisation, and developer display revenues were up. This growth was partly offset by lower PropTrack and programmatic display revenues.
Financial services revenue increased during the quarter, helped by a 5% increase in settlements.
