For years now, the portal wars have been among the topics that consistently dominate real estate headlines. From jockeying for position to competing value propositions, Zillow, Realtor.com and Redfin are always making moves that get noticed.
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Enter CoStar, which took a little time deciding on a strategy to parlay its commercial real estate dominance into residential wins, including rumors of a possible acquisition of Realtor.com. Eventually, however, the portal went all-in on advertising for its Homes.com portal, spending billions to become the No. 2 portal (with some caveats).
Now, one of the company’s investors is questioning that strategy and CoStar’s residential goals as a whole.
Investor calls CoStar’s residential project a ‘fiasco,’ slams Homes.com by Taylor Anderson
Hedge fund Third Point and its founder, Daniel Loeb, went on the offensive in an open letter last week, calling CoStar’s board “feckless” and Andy Florance’s residential goals “quixotic.” Loeb called on CoStar to consider abandoning its promotion of Homes.com and threatened to “introduce shareholders to a slate of highly experienced new directors to be voted onto the board to reverse the downward spiral that has become synonymous with this CEO and his supine enablers.”
For its part, CoStar pushed back, questioning the investor’s understanding of the company’s actions.
“Third Point’s demand that we abandon Homes.com reflects their complete misunderstanding of our business, industry, and the strong progress we are making,” the company said. “Third Point would have you believe that Homes.com could be jettisoned or shut down with no negative impact on our business or competitive positioning.”
READ: Homes.com isn’t going anywhere, CoStar says in response to
From upheaval in the portal landscape to the ongoing controversy around private listings, the focus moves from consumer-facing platforms to the policies and power structures behind the listings themselves. That shift brings the National Association of Realtors and multiple listing services into sharper view, as debates over access, control and cooperation intensify.
I read NAR’s 40-page annual report so you don’t have
Accountability and genuine transparency are still missing from NAR’s communications, coach Darryl Davis writes, and Realtors deserve better.
Agents break free: How non-NAR MLSs and associations are redefining
Contributor and broker Holly Brink says that alternative MLSs and associations across the country are offering agents the long-overdue flexibility they need.
When ‘off-market’ becomes the default, who really
Maybe the MLS isn’t perfect, broker Dennis Norman writes, but it’s still the only tool we have that puts listings in front of everyone, not just the ones invited behind the curtain.
The Download is a column in which Inman’s Christy Murdock takes a deeper look at the top-read stories of the past week to give you what you’ll need to meet Monday head-on.
