Breaking Property News – 04/12/23
Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.
OnTheMarket has a new owner CoStar Group who looks to become the UK’s number one property portal
With more than nine out of every ten existing shareholders in OnTheMarket, the present third largest property portal in the UK, voting to accept the sale of the business to CoStar Group, it is beginning to look an awfully like Christmas for a lot of estate agents and othe property practitioners who have been held hostage to eyewatering increases in their annual licence fees from the present number one property portal.
In my analysts head, this 90% stamp of approval seems like a landslide of common, and much good will flow from this. From all property portals now becoming super sensitive to their client needs, to portals themselves opening new lines that support better the obvious digital transformation of real estate that is moving at pace.
I held no shares in OTM, and have no commercial tie with Jason Tebb, but he definitely is a person who understands property and his client base, possibly his property background unlike other portal CEO’s who lack this vital ingredient gives him that vital edge.
As someone that is deeply involved in property technology, the digital transformation of real estate, this huge shake up is just what was needed to speed many of the change in numerous business operations in the UK. Having a number of clients globally, but probably with America as a main source, for years I could see that a large player would cross the pond and look to seize the sizeable opportunities here.
The CoStar Group are of course in the UK already, but the purchase and full funding of OnTheMarket will give them both a distribution channel and as in America if they are able to climb to the top spot, there is capacity for enormous annual and repeatable profits and the delivering of new marketplaces.
Once again we see that if you sit at the top, to then not re-invent yourself is a dangerous strategy, one that Rightmove may well regret, two years ago its shareprice was 795p, it dipped to 470p at the news of CoStar moving into the ring in November. And though its share price has recovered a little, it will be interesting to see where the ticker sits by mid-summer 2024. The results for 2023 were already baked in, but next year there will be all to play for, especially with the amount of capital CoStar Group is about to deploy.
Andy Florance CEO of CoStar Group becomes an Inman Best of Proptech Award Winner for Entrepreneurs
Until today and the formal acceptance of the CoStar Group bid, I purposefully have said very little about the CoStar Group. As the OnTheMarket deal has now been ratified by the shareholders, I reproduce a Press Release from last month, which recognises the brilliance and decades of hard focused work that Andy Florance its CEO has been undertaking.
It will also serve as a mini educator for many UK readers, as to the size and width of opportunity that CoStar Group is going to be bringing with it as well as its deep pockets.
Press Release from November 2023: Andy Florance, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CoStar Group (NASDAQ: CSGP), a leading provider of online marketplaces, information and analytics in the property markets, was named amongst Inman’s Best of Proptech Award winners for the Entrepreneur category.
“I’m honoured to be recognized as one of Inman’s Best of Proptech entrepreneur winners”
Since his founding of CoStar Group in 1986 to IPO launch in July 1998, Andy has led the company to tremendous success, solidifying the platform as a dominant market resource and industry-leading provider of commercial and residential real estate information. With Andy at the helm and a global workforce of over 5,600 employees across 14 countries, CoStar Group has continued to create innovative, tech-forward products and services that address market and client needs across the world.
Despite much of the real estate industry experiencing a slowdown, CoStar Group has continued to witness incredible growth in earnings and website traffic across its industry-leading brands. At the end of the third quarter for 2023, CoStar Group reported its 50th straight quarters of double digit revenue growth with revenue increasing of 12% year-over-year and net income of $91 million, a year-over-year increase of 25%. In September 2023, CoStar Group’s network of U.S. real estate websites saw over 160 million monthly unique visitors. In particular, Homes.com achieved 100 million unique monthly visitors, positioning itself one of the fastest growing home search sites in the industry.
“I’m honoured to be recognized as one of Inman’s Best of Proptech entrepreneur winners,” said CEO Andy Florance. “Entrepreneurial spirit has been at the core of CoStar Group since its founding and it is an incredible moment when you see hard work and dedication come full circle.
The company would not be at its market-leading position today without our talented team and commitment to providing best-in-class technology solutions. This award exemplifies the success of our combined efforts and I am proud to be listed amongst other influential leaders in the proptech industry.”
Inman’s Best of Proptech Awards spotlights the achievements of the companies and leaders leveraging technology to change the residential landscape. Inman celebrates the entrepreneurs, VCs and visionaries that are building the future in the world of property technology, or proptech.
About CoStar Group
CoStar Group (NASDAQ: CSGP) is a leading provider of online real estate marketplaces, information, and analytics in the property markets. Founded in 1986, CoStar Group conducts expansive, ongoing research to produce and maintain the largest and most comprehensive database of real estate information.
CoStar is the global leader in commercial real estate information, analytics, and news, enabling clients to analyse, interpret and gain unmatched insight on property values, market conditions and availabilities. Apartments.com is the leading online marketplace for renters seeking great apartment homes, providing property managers and owners a proven platform for marketing their properties.
LoopNet is the most heavily trafficked online commercial real estate marketplace with over twelve million monthly global unique visitors. STR provides premium data benchmarking, analytics, and marketplace insights for the global hospitality industry. Ten-X offers a leading platform for conducting commercial real estate online auctions and negotiated bids. Homes.com is the fastest growing online residential marketplace that connects agents, buyers, and sellers.
BureauxLocaux is one of the largest specialized property portals for buying and leasing commercial real estate in France. Business Immo is France’s leading commercial real estate news service. Thomas Daily is Germany’s largest online data pool in the real estate industry. Belbex is the premier source of commercial space available to let and for sale in Spain. CoStar Group’s websites attract nearly 100 million unique monthly visitors.
Headquartered in Washington, DC, CoStar Group maintains offices throughout the U.S., Europe, Canada, and Asia. From time to time, we plan to utilize our corporate website, CoStarGroup.com, as a channel of distribution for material company information.
Andrew Stanton Executive Editor – moving property and proptech forward. PropTech-X
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