Property listings giant defies house price slump
Will Nicholas |
Home listings have flatlined as sellers mull ailing prices and a housing tax overhaul, but that hasn’t stymied a better-than-expected result for Australia’s biggest property website.
Realestate.com.au owner REA Group said the dust was settling over a property landscape wracked by tax changes and interest rate hikes, announcing healthy revenue and listings bumps on Thursday.
But the News Corp subsidiary’s surprisingly strong full-year results don’t necessarily indicate a rosy future, according to Sharesies trading platform analyst Jacki Neumann.
“Flat property listings look resilient on the surface, but persistent rate uncertainty and shifting tax settings saw buyer sentiment soften late in the year,” Ms Neumann said after the results release.
“With the RBA’s cash rate decision looming, buyers are treading water.”
The number of people listing properties for sale on the platform unexpectedly stayed flat across 2025/26, eclipsing the firm’s forecast of a one to three per cent slump.
Its Australian business’s margins swelled to four per cent – the highest in years – as revenue grew to $1.7 billion, outstripping a seven per cent increase in costs in the year to June 30.
But tougher conditions in the year ahead could force the group to trim more fat, Ms Neumann said.
“FY27 guidance points to slower listings and a step-down in yield growth,” she said.
“Both of these have the potential to squeeze their revenue growth rate.
“That gap could narrow sharply, leaving this year’s margin expansion looking more like a high-water mark than a new baseline.”
Since peaking in March, house prices in capital cities have fallen by 2.5 per cent on average, but realestate.com.au listings in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide surged 17 per cent in the three months to June 30, saving REA’s bacon.
“The market is still recalibrating post-budget,” the group’s chief executive Cameron McIntyre said at an earnings briefing.
“But once the dust settles and interest rates stabilise, we expect consumer confidence to improve and buyers to become more active.”
Rising interest rates were more to blame for property market woes than the removal of tax concessions for investors, Mr McIntyre said.
“It’s likely that we’re at or near the peak of the interest rate cycle,” he said.
The Reserve Bank is tipped to hold interest rates steady at 4.35 per cent until May 2027 at the earliest, according to Commonwealth Bank, even with inflation and the jobs market softening faster than expected.
REA’s net profit across remaining divisions – after offloading its struggling business in India – was up 14 per cent to $682 million in the year to June 30.
Having plummeted 30 per cent in the prior 12 months, REA’s share price rocketed to $176.39 in the hours after it announced its earnings – a price not seen since before the federal budget and its tax changes for property investors.
It plateaued in afternoon trading to $171.91, up 3.4 per cent from the market open.
AAP