REA Group (ASX) has reported a strong start to the 2024 financial year, with revenue from core operations reaching $413 million, a 21% year-on-year increase.
REA Group CEO Owen Wilson said this impressive performance reflects strong seller confidence and high listing volumes, providing buyers with more options and moderating house price growth.
“Seller confidence continued to drive a strong listings environment in Q1, delivering greater choice for buyers and some moderation in house price growth.
“In this healthy market, we hit new audience records and our customers increasingly leveraged the value of our premium products to differentiate their properties. This underpinned the strength of our financial performance,” he said.
Strong performance across core markets
In Australia, REA’s core residential revenue increased by 23%, supported by a 15% yield growth and a 7% rise in new listings.
Notably, Sydney and Melbourne saw listing increases of 11% and 9% respectively, driven by a combination of strategic pricing, higher demand for premium products, and increased listings.
“Australians turned to our leading platform in record numbers,” said Mr Wilson. “Our loyal and highly engaged consumers continued to embrace our personalised experiences, widening the audience gap between realestate.com.au and our nearest competitor to a record 5.3 million people.”
The data supplied by REA reported 11.9 million people visited realestate.com.au each month on average, with with 6.2 million exclusively using realestate.com.au.
Internationally, REA India recorded a 42% revenue boost, driven by strong demand for services on the Housing Edge platform and higher engagement from Housing.com, particularly in tier 2 cities.
In line with its strategic expansion, REA recently acquired a 19.9% interest in Athena Home Loans, adding to its portfolio in financial services.
“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.
“October listings were at near-record levels, and this significant market activity, combined with the strength of REA’s audience and product suite, continues to position our business strongly for future growth,” said Mr Wilson.
For more information refer to the ASX announcement here