As the Portal Wars have intensified, Realtor.com’s Sales have cooled. In the fourth quarter of the fiscal year Move, Inc., the parent company of Realtor.com, reported a 2% decline in revenue to $143 million, according to a statement Thursday.
NewsCorpMove’s parent company, attributed the decline to higher mortgage rates and macroeconomic headwinds.
Revenue from Move’s real estate segment, which accounts for approximately 80% of Move’s total revenue, decreased 2% year-over-year as Realtor.com lead volume and website traffic growth were flat year-over-year.
According to internal data shared on the conference call, executives said Realtor.com’s website traffic averaged 74 million unique visitors per month.
Despite the revenue decline at Move, NewsCorp’s digital real estate segment still reported strong results for the quarter, including a 21% year-on-year increase in revenue to $448 million.
Overall, NewsCorp reported 2% revenue growth for the full fiscal year to $10.09 billion, while the digital real estate services sector reported an 8% jump in revenue to $1.6 billion for the full fiscal year, despite a 10% decline in Move’s annual revenue to $544 million. Total real estate revenue fell 11% for the full year as referrals and core lead generation declined.
Looking ahead, CFO Susan Panuccio said NewsCorp is working to diversify its revenue base.
“As we shared last quarter, we are focused on best positioning Realtor.com for a housing market recovery,” Panuccio said. “Our key strategic focuses remain the same heading into the new fiscal year and include modernizing our technology stack, investing in content for our product offerings, which most recently included the release of a new dynamic maps feature, and leveraging the News Corp network to drive viewership.”
Despite it being a hot topic, NewsCorp CEO Robert Thomson did not address the portal wars and Move’s lawsuit against its exchange rival. CoStar. However, Thomson praised Realtor.com CEO Damian Eales for his leadership and noted that the company is prepared to handle the upcoming changes in business practices that will be introduced in the National Association of Real Estate AgentsAgreement on the settlement of a commission claim.
“The market really seems to be on the verge of a revival,” Thomson said. “I have to say Damian has done a great job of taking full advantage of our media platforms to raise (Realtor.com’s) profile and drive traffic.”
