Realestate.com.au boasts 75% of all property viewing time

REA Group, owner of realestate.com.au, announced performance results for the second half of 2012. Group revenue was pegged at $161.4 million, up by 20% from the previous period, while net profit rose to $51.6 million, a 25% increase.

“REA Group’s excellent half-year results reflect the success of our depth listing products, specifically tailored to the requirements of our residential, commercial and developer customers. We now have a suite of depth products delivering exceptional return on investment to our customers through increased visits and enquiry. These products have shown resilience in the current property cycle and are now key growth drivers for the Group, creating substantial value for shareholders,” declared REA Group CEO and Managing Director Greg Ellis in an announcement 06 Feb 2013.

RealEstate.com.au site visits

The average monthly visits for the group’s three Australian sites realestate.com.au, property.com.au, and realcommercial.com.au increased to 19.4 million by 31 December 2012. The group has also declared that it commands 75% of the total time spent by Australians on property sites for the same period. The mobile segment also posted strong growth with more than 1.7 million downloads of realestate.com.au and realcommercial.com.au mobile apps.

REA Group’s Australian numbers

Results from the Australian division, which contributes 90% to the group’s revenue boosted its overall performance. Australian operations revenue is up by 21%, with an increase of $144.7 million. The positive performance was attributed to customer response to “depth products”, which includes developer advertising as well as residential and commercial listing products.

Less paying agents

However, the number of paying agents declined by 4% at 8,982 from the previous period’s 9,324. The average revenue per agent nevertheless increased to 27% at $1,924.

International operations

Aside from its Australian sites, REA Group also publishes several property sites in Hong Kong, France, Germany, Italy, and Luxembourg. Italy’s casa.it posted a 24% growth in revenue and average monthly visits of 7.1 million. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s squarefoot.com.hk and the Group’s sites in the Greater Luxembourg Region posted an increase of 110% and 46% increase in average monthly visits, respectively.

REA logo from Realestate.com.au website