Other real estate marketplaces highlighted in the 141-page report included Schibsted, Naspers, Rightmove and CoStar, while themes including AI and consolidation were also analysed.

An Overweight label indicates the bank's opinion that the corresponding company's stock will outperform the sector average moving in 2025. The other labels are Neutral and Underweight.

REA Group was deemed Overweight with JP Morgan saying that, at the core of its thesis, "REA [continues] to take vendor wallet share from [rival portal Domain]."

Domain was labelled Underweight and is expected to underperform in 2025, with the bank saying downgraded offers and free listings led to Domain's average revenue per listing (ARPL) falling by more than 50% from Q4 2024 to Q1 2025. In other words, according to JP Morgan, Domain stock has limited upside in the next 12 months.

In the United Kingdom, Rightmove was also deemed Underweight after it became embroiled in an unexpected tug-of-war with REA in September 2024. JP Morgan said:

On the short side, we stay cautious on Rightmove (UW) - with the final curtain fallen on the Rightmove/REA deal, investor focus has shifted to Rightmove’s strategic execution in the next 12 months with a high bar now set on delivering shareholder value in years to come.

Through a European lens... Rightmove [is] overly expensive for low relative earnings growth over the outlook period.

Meanwhile, an Overweight tag was also reserved for CoStar Group, with JP Morgan on the record saying it has "high conviction" in CoStar's strategy:

We maintain a high-conviction call for CoStar.

The quality of [CoStar's] content is confirmed by over 100M monthly unique visitors (retail customers) across a range of online platforms. The majority of the revenues (>90%) are subscription based with an over 80%+ renewal rate, meaning a highly scalable operating model. CoStar Group already generates >$2.7B in revenue and sizable EBITDA margin (when excluding substantial spend on residential business expansion).

We think the company can deliver an 18% 3Y top-line CAGR. We like CoStar Group’s strategy of widening the audience of potential users of its must-have real estate information services through an online marketplace platform.

In mainland Europe, Overweight marketplace operators included Prosus, Naspers, and Schibsted, while Scout24 was upgraded to Overweight earlier this year.

JP Morgan said:

We recently upgraded Scout to Overweight from Neutral, with the stock standing as one of our top picks across European Internet – pairing competitive top-line growth with ongoing margin expansion, and compounding attractive valuation against its peer-set.

At the same time, we believe the current market environment is likely to reward resilient, less cyclical earnings momentum – where we see the company as positioned to benefit from additional product launches next to a strong core business going forward.

JP Morgan also discussed core themes including digitalization, artificial intelligence, and the likelihood of consolidation in the coming years:

The benefits of AI continue to unfold with product development, content creation and consumer experiences now in focus. There remains a need to tap into new revenue streams, which have already started to unfold. New product offerings include: a) more digital capabilities (such as entirely virtual viewing in the property vertical); b) transaction models that offer entirely new, incremental revenue streams; c) dynamic pricing options; and d) plenty of ancillary services.

The scene looks set for consolidation in Europe and beyond. Strategic activity in the sector has remained high in recent years, with Private Equity showing a strong willingness to engage Online Classified models, with ongoing strategic M&A in play. We expect this narrative to continue, if not intensify.

The $13.4bn take-out of Adevinta in May this year may prove the catalyst the market has been waiting for, and we see growing opportunity to further European marketplace consolidation, while the recent separation of Axel Springer’s classifieds business (now fully to private equity) may see more assets come to market, not withstanding CoStar’s ambition to consolidate across the rest of Europe. Importantly, we continue to see scope for Prosus (OW) to deploy further capital into classifieds, should attractive options arise.

With Classifieds a capital-light asset model where personnel expenses take the lion’s share of costs, we see headcount efficiency under scrutiny.

Finally, Prosus achieved the highest share price increase from January-November 2024, up 41% for the period, while Domain shares dipped the most at -19%. Interestingly CoStar share prices went down by 14%, while REA shares were up 36% for the period.

We'll start with an acquisition in Germany...

Investments: Scout24 snaps up commercial real estate specialist Bulwiengesa

German real estate marketplace leader Scout24 has continued its acquisition strategy with the capture of commercial real estate data and valuation provider Bulwiengesa AG for an undisclosed sum.

Scout24 said it will integrate Bulwiengesa’s products to offer its customers “increased market transparency, innovative data-driven products and more convenient decision-making tools.”

Bulwiengesa CEO Ralf Koschny will join a supervisory board and COO Sven Carstensen will replace Koschny as CEO.

Tobias Hartmann, CEO at Scout24, said:

"Bulwiengesa’s leading data services complement our product range and are fully in line with our strategy to become the leading provider of real estate information in Germany. Together, we will be able to enhance market transparency, advance real estate transaction digitization and offer our commercial customers unique services to navigate the increasingly complex property market more confidently."

The acquisition follows swiftly on the heels of the newbuild marketplace NeuBau Kompass AG, also announced in December 2024.

Scout24, which operates the leading real state portal Immobilienscout24.de, recorded annual revenue growth of 8.5% in its latest financial statement in October.

Meanwhile, Tobias Hartmann has announced he will leave Scout24 in 2025, with a replacement CEO already lined up.

Products and Services: LeBonCoin launches new AI features and confirms PayPal integration

French horizontal portal LeBonCoin has launched a suite of AI features including visual search, the auto-completion of listings and interface personalization.

LeBonCoin will now show a personalised homepage with suggested goods and ads based on their bookmarked items and browsing history.

The image search option, available on LeBonCoin's app, looks for products and listings that match a user’s photograph of a particular object and then generates recommendations from its consumer goods segment.

LeBonCoin will also use AI to auto-complete item descriptions using just a title and an image. The AI leverages will then generate a full description of the item, suggest a suitable selling price, and even recommend the most suitable delivery option for the item.

Finally, LeBonCoin will fully integrate PayPal payments in 2025. Users will also gain the option to make payments in instalments.

UK-based SearchSmartly launches full Computer Vision API

SearchSmartly, a property search specialist for London, has launched Computer Vision API that lets portals process property listing imagery to generate tags and image descriptions.

The tool can detect property attributes (such as furnished/unfurnished), objects (tables, fireplaces) and rooms (kitchen/garden).

SearchSmartly has reported that use cases from partners have been varied, from powering additional search filters for seekers (“wooden floors” or “swimming pools”) to reordering imagery around seekers’ specific preferences.

An emerging use case is portals building their own AI muscle internally, by looking to build internal datasets that can be used for model training and output generation.

Simon Mohacek, Chief Growth Officer at SearchSmartly, said:

"It’s really exciting to see our Computer Vision technology start to integrate into portals around the world. Portal adoption of AI is about so much more than just LLMs, and using CV processing to help power seeker property discovery is a perfect example of how so much of this AI revolution is happening behind the scenes."

SearchSmartly also has a UK portal that showcases their technology, allowing would-be buyers and tenants searching for homes in London to embark on a more comprehensive property search experience, including searching by lifestyle, travel times, the proximity of green spaces, particularly for 'hidden gem' properties that may not be as prominently advertised on portals like Rightmove and Zoopla.

SearchSmartly is backed by investors including Blue Lake VC, REACH UK, and Syndicate Room.

Traffic and Findings: Emlakjet reveals 1.8 million ads published in 2024

Turkish real estate portal Emlakjet says it listed 1.8 million property advertisements this year.

Other numbers revealed by the marketplace operator included listing more than 40,000 real estate consultants in 2024, and directing 2,500 investors to new development projects.

In a press release, Tolga İdikat, CEO at Emlakjet, commented:

"2024 was not only a year of growth and success for Emlakjet, but also a year in which strategic steps were taken to support the transformation of the sector. With technological innovations, customer-oriented services and innovative solutions we developed for the sector, we both achieved a rapid transformation in the real estate market and deepened our contributions to the sector.

"This year, the opportunities we provided for real estate agents and the two-fold growth we experienced in our mobile application gave great momentum to the digitalization movement in the sector. In addition, more than 40 thousand real estate consultants and 1.8 million advertisements were published on our platform, and we directed nearly 2500 investors to the right projects.

"We established stronger collaborations with the branded projects we offered to real estate agencies, and brought investors together with the right projects. We increased knowledge sharing and shaped expectations about the sector by coming together with professionals in the sector through training and panels. In addition, we switched to a performance-based real estate agent-friendly package structure, which is a first in the sector. With this innovative model, we increased our customer base by 50%.

"We have high expectations for 2025. As Emlakjet, we are determined to shape the real estate dynamics of not only today but also the future and to carry the sector further."

Dubizzle passes 400,000 verified users

Dubizzle has revealed an 86% year-on-year increase to over 400,000 verified users signed up to its marketplace offering.

Dubizzle says it added verified accounts to create a trustable, secure environment for its users.

Oceania: View Media Group launches REIP Nexus data on its portal

View Media Group, which operates view.com.au, has integrated REIP Nexus data into its portal.

REIP Nexus will provide view.com.au with access to property listing data on over 10 million off-market properties and high-quality Sales Price Estimates.

Antony Catalano, Executive Chairman at View Media Group, commented:

"We are always looking at ways to ensure our products and services provide the best possible experience for property seekers and to our agent partners. Partnering with REIP Nexus ensures our audience has access to rich data on over 10 million properties to assist them in their property research.

"Our property seekers also receive access to REIP Nexus sophisticated Sales Price Estimate tool providing agents and their vendors with an up-to-date price on their property. These tools work hand in hand with agents to stimulate the market and create potential vendors."

REIP and VMG entered a multi-year partnership earlier this year as view.com.au looks to rival Domain for the number two spot by listings volume in Australia.

Catalano said view.com.au has seen sales listing volumes grow from less than 130,000 to over 185,000 listings in the past 13 months.

United Kingdom: Jitty launches first monetised service

The AI-powered challenger portal Jitty has released its first monetised service—allowing buyers to access homes before they hit traditional portals like Rightmove and Zoopla.

Dubbed "Jitty Pre Market", Jitty will work directly with estate agents and send email digests with off-market opportunities in specific areas, granting early access to properties nobody else has seen.

Jitty hasn't revealed the price point for the feature.

Graham Paterson, CEO at Jitty, said on LinkedIn:

"Jitty Pre-Market shows you homes before they go onto portals - sometimes days before, sometimes hours, sometimes weeks. Some homes will never even make it onto the portals. And as they’re pre-market they sometimes won’t have the usual information, just basics like bedrooms, size, address, and price - they’re literally pre-marketing. It’s our first paid-for feature, and there will be a big discount for early signups."

Europe: Gestilar iBuyer expands operations to five major cities

The iBuying subsidiary of residential construction specialist Gestilar, "Homes by Gestilar", has revealed it is now operating in five major Spanish and Portuguese cities.

The firm says it is now live in Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Malaga and Lisbon. Meanwhile, Homes by Gestilar has bought, renovated and sold 300 properties since it launched in 2022.

Gestilar also said it took on a project to renovate 66 apartments in the prestigious Salamanca neighbourhood of Madrid.

Miguel Silmi, CEO at Homes by Gestilar, told El Economista:

"We have a system, an ERP [enterprise resource planning], which is an asset manager in which, both in the acquisition of the reform and the sale of the assets, all salespeople and technicians have a real-time application.

"Every time they see a business opportunity or any modification to the reform or a sales opportunity, they have online access to decision-making by the company’s management committee to make agile decisions at any time.

"We have taken the concept of house flipping to the extreme. The demand in the Salamanca neighborhood is extreme; in recent years the absorption that has taken place is six houses a month, and with the business model that we have put in place in this last month, we have sold 14 houses — we have doubled the usual rate of sales in the market.

"Therefore, it is an agile business model that can be extrapolated to different segments of the real estate industry."

Asia: Hogangnono adds banner ads to showcase agents

Hogangnono, the subsidiary of the South Korean rentals brokerage Zigbang, has launched a banner advertising offer for agents specialising in rental properties.

The "ApartmentPro" feature is for apartments only, showing the name, photo and contact details of certified realtors on banner ads.

ZigBang said the new ads provide agents with more opportunities to consult with users of ZigBang and Hogangnono.

Jason Ahn, CEO at ZigBang, said:

"We expect that users’ brokerage service experience will also improve through apartment-specialized certified real estate agents in each region.

"We hope that users will not miss this golden opportunity to be introduced as the first complex expert on Hogangnono."

Europe: Scout24 CEO to step down, successor already appointed

Tobias Hartmann will leave his position as CEO at Scout24 in March due to personal reasons, and his successor has already been appointed.

Scout24's current Chief Product & Technology Officer, Ralf Weitz, will take over from Hartmann for a period of five years, starting 1 March 2025.

Hans-Holger Albrecht, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, said in a press release:

"The Supervisory Board is looking forward to continuing the close and trustful collaboration with Ralf Weitz. He will assume the CEO role from Tobias Hartmann on 1 March 2025, in addition to his role as Chief Product & Technology Officer. Due to his many years of experience and impressive track record within the company as well his product management expertise, Ralf Weitz has everything it takes to further drive the successful strategy and growth of Scout24 SE.

"Tobias Hartmann has led and developed the company with great success since November 2018. During his tenure, the Group's revenues, profitability and growth have increased remarkably. As a result, the company has delivered exceptional results and created excellent value for its shareholders. Under his leadership, the Scout24 Group has been focused on the real estate business. Tobias also completed successfully several strategic acquisitions to strengthen the company’s market position. We regret his departure but respect his decision not to extend his contract for personal reasons after two successful terms."

Tobias Hartmann said:

"Scout24 SE is a very special company. It has been an extraordinary honor and pleasure to steer and manage the company over the last few years together with such a strong and committed team."

Scout's most recent financial filing was made in October—the Q3 2024 statement announced typically strong performance.

Meanwhile, Scout24 hired a new specialist CTO in September, appointing Gertrud Kolb to the role. It is unknown whether Kolb joined the company in the knowledge that its CEO was due to depart and the CPTO was set to step up to fill the role.

Swedish rentals proptech Qasa appoints new CEO

Maria Björkander has been appointed CEO of Qasa, the Schibsted-owned proptech that provides Sweden’s largest service for renting out housing.

She replaces the co-founder of the company, Fredrik Strömsten, who left the company in September to join Sana.

Strömsten and the rest of his cofounders all stepped down in September.

Björkander, who was most recently a product manager at Volvo, said:

"I am taking over the leadership at Qasa at an incredibly exciting time.

"The company has had an impressive development in recent years and really proven that both the product and the business model work on the Swedish market by becoming the largest in rental housing. Now we are facing the next phase, both in terms of the development of the business and expansion into new markets. It feels incredibly fun to lead this strong and committed team into the next chapter in our growth journey."

Qasa operates in Sweden and Finland and is set to expand to Norway as part of strategic partnerships with the market-leading real estate portals Finn.no and Oikotie.

Adevinta Spain head of digital leaves

Aingeru Duarte has left his role as head of digital at Adevinta.

Duarte returns to MediaMarkt, where he worked before joining Adevinta.

Duarte is one of many Adevinta employees to leave the business in a flurry of changes since Permira and Blackstone took control of Adevinta earlier this year for circa $13 billion.

The company has already renamed its Spain entity, divested from Irish portal Daft.ie (and other Irish marketplaces under the Distilled Media umbrella.

United Kingdom: Houseful enters consultation period with potential redundancies at its software division

Houseful is entering a consultation period with some employees in its software business, with veteran Nikki Cole being the first big name to leave the company after 17 years.

Houseful's software segment includes Alto Software, Jupix and Expert Agent and CFP.

A spokesperson for Houseful said:

"As we look to 2025, we are focused on driving further efficiencies in our software business and recalibrating certain roles in our organisation. These proposals, which do not impact our core products of Alto, Jupix, Expert Agent and CFP, were very much a last resort.

"We want to reassure our customers that no roles involved in the development, support, or delivery of these products are affected. Our goal is to ensure we continue delivering enhanced products and services at pace, maintaining the value our customers expect from these industry-leading platforms. We are fully committed to supporting our affected colleagues throughout this process."

Staff at Zoopla are not expected to be affected.

Cole posted on LinkedIn to announce her departure, saying:

"After 17 years working across estate agency, new homes, commercial portal and software – from start up, to PLC, and then PE owned, it’s finally time for me to hang up my ZPG/Houseful hat and move on to new adventures."

Oceania: REA Group appoints new national customer training manager

REA Group has appointed Tara Christianson as the group's new National Customer Training Manager.

Christianson will lead customer training initiatives across franchises, ownership groups and agencies.

The appointment comes as a response to customer feedback which found 60% of consumers wanted more proactive support and training.

Christianson said:

"We’re doubling down on service, committed to helping you get bigger, better results. This new structure is about creating better employee experiences so that we can create better customer experiences. It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, and I’m feeling good."

Asia: Carousell cuts 7% of jobs amid demand slump

The Singaporean horizontal marketplace Carousell has cut 76 jobs in response to lower demand from consumers.

A spokesperson for the company told This Week In Asia:

"Affected roles were from both business and tech departments … with ongoing slowdown of consumer demand, we sought to proactively make adjustments to ensure the long-term sustainability and operational efficiency of our Group."

Carousell lost $38 million in 2023, from revenues of $116 million.

Sahibinden hires new CTO

The Turkish generalised marketplace Sahibinden has appointed technology veteran Bulent Akar as the firm's new CTO.

He was previously CTO at Turkey's leading food delivery platform Yemeksepeti, and he is currently co-founder and Chairman at the boutique software development and consultancy firm Agada Tech.

Europe: LeBonCoin up for sale? Not Yet, says CEO Antoine Jouteau

LeBonCoin CEO Antoine Jouteau has hinted that the marketplace may be up for sale, but insists "it is not a subject for now." [translated from French]

Jouteau told the French business channel BFM Business that a sale could be a "possibility" for LeBonCoin, the Adevinta-owned generalised marketplace.

Adevinta has already begun transitioning itself to divest from its diverse marketplace portfolio, beginning with Jouteau returning to his previous post if heading up LeBonCoin after Adevinta opted to operate without a centralised CEO.

In a wide-ranging interview, Jouteau also confirmed that LeBonCoin is seeking damages from Google in a multi-mission dollar lawsuit, and said the platform grew by 10% to €550 million in 2024.

Cinven completes $3.1 billion takeover of Idealista

Private equity firm Cinven finally closed its €2.9 billion ($3.1 billion) acquisition of the international real estate portal operator Idealista this week.

Despite being all but signed, sealed and delivered since this summer, Expansíon has reported that the official transaction closed on December 10, 2024.

The newspaper claimed it is the biggest single deal involving a Spain-based internet business of all time, with the valuation rising from the agreed sale price after changes in Idealista's operating performance in recent months.

Cinven's took a 70% stake in the portal operator, a clear market leader in Spain and Portugal, and a close-run market leader in Italy against Immobiliare.it.

Idealista Global, Idealista's parent company, increased its revenues to €259 million in 2023, a 19% increase year over year.

Asia: MagicBricks takes majority stake in PropViz

MagicBricks has acquired a majority stake in the proptech PropViz for an undisclosed sum.

PropViz offers 3D visualisation and immersive technology solutions such as virtual tours and smart maps, an integrated bookings system and real-time inventory management tools.

The proptech has developed 125 million sq. ft. of virtual spaces, designed 1,800+ interactive spatial layouts, and works with over 100 developers in India.

Sudhir Pai, CEO at Magicbricks, said:

"We now offer a full suite of solutions tailor-made for both homebuyers and developers as part of our full-stack positioning. For developers, apart from our leading ad-sales solutions, we’ve launched Site Visits & Verified Leads as disruptive solutions. With PropViz, we will expand our range of solutions for developers covering the entire funnel from prelaunch to launch to sustenance selling of projects."

United States: Compass to acquire Christie's International for over $400 million

The top broker in the United States, Compass, has agreed to acquire @properties and Christie’s International Real Estate for $444 million.

Compass is a big-name, coast-to-coast brokerage operator in the States and also competes with Zillow across mortgages and other services.

The addition of @properties (Chicago) and Christie's (nationwide, luxury properties) will

Robert Reffkin, CEO at Compass, said:

"We’re operating two great companies ‘as is,’ and that’s a really important message. We want to make sure we get the best from each other but not necessarily change quickly."

United Kingdom: Dwelly acquires another U.K. lettings business

The AI-enabled lettings marketplace Dwelly has made another acquisition after a busy second half of the year which has seen the challenger marketplace close two significant investments in rentals businesses.

Dwelly acquired Gallant Richardson earlier this month, adding circa 450 rental properties to its portfolio.

The acquisition follows the purchase of Lime Property in September, which added circa 1,000 properties to Dwelly's marketplace.

Highlights include:

• Overall revenues were up 17% YoY, to €41.8 million
• Real estate revenues were up 26% YoY, to €11 million
• EBITDA grew 18% to €32.9 million (was €27.8 million in H1 2024)
• Operating profit grew 36% YoY, to €26.4 million, up from €19.4 million in H1 2024
• Cash and cash equivalents of €31.7 million

BCG owns the majority of the main players in the real estate, cars and jobs classified marketplaces spaces in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, with a strong market leadership position across all its core markets.

Justinas Šimkus, Chief Executive Officer of Baltic Classifieds Group, said:

“The first half of the year delivered a solid financial performance, laying a strong foundation for our full-year results. The compounding effect of sustained strong growth has led to our EBITDA doubling in just 3.5 years after our IPO, which is a remarkable achievement of which I am very proud. All three vertical business lines have excelled, achieving record numbers of advertisers, an enhanced competitive position, and increased yields across our portfolio.

"While growth in the generalist segment has been slower, its unique contribution to achieving synergies across our portfolio remains invaluable.
Our core revenue streams, which contribute 90% of our total revenue - B2C and C2C - have achieved remarkable growth, with both segments reporting a 17% increase."

Additionally, Real Estate ARPU was up 19% driven by subscription fees and packaging changes, which took place at the end of H1 2024.

Baltic Classifieds Group Assets

BCG said it has made improvements to its Real Estate segment this half-year, including:

At Aruodas.lt, we have implemented a segmentation system for self-service customers, allowing us to apply different monetisation strategies for private sellers and developers. Additionally, we have introduced new B2C packages specifically designed for co-living projects. This emerging property type has distinct characteristics, prompting us to tailor our offerings to meet its unique needs.

We’ve also launched an interior design gallery showcasing concepts from local designers who present their portfolios on Paslaugos.lt. Meanwhile, at KV.ee, we’ve significantly upgraded our map search functionality by enhancing accuracy and focusing on user experience. Furthermore, we have improved the quality of our listings by integrating data from the state registry, streamlining the listing process, and reducing inaccuracies.

Earlier this year, the leading global private equity advisory firm Apax sold all of its approximately 63 million shares (13% holding) in BCG to public market investors for circa €150 million.

Founded in 2003 by Louise and Martin Dell, Kyero has established itself as a key player in the international real estate sector, partnering with over 7,000 realtors and attracting approximately 1.2 million monthly visits. The platform specializes in facilitating cross-border real estate transactions, making it a valuable addition to idealista’s portfolio.

The acquisition is timely, as foreign buyers accounted for up to 22% of property transactions in Spain in 2024, underscoring the importance of platforms like Kyero in this growing market segment. Jesús Encinar, idealista’s CEO, highlighted the strategic value of the acquisition as an opportunity to enhance client services and drive innovation for both agents and buyers.

This is idealista's seventeenth acquisition in the last sixteen years and is part of the company's inorganic growth strategy.

Idealista has confirmed that Kyero will maintain operational independence while benefiting from idealista’s technological resources. This move is expected to intensify competition in the real estate portal sector, prompting rivals to consider consolidation or diversification of their offerings.

By combining Kyero’s global audience with idealista’s extensive local listings, the company aims to deliver a more comprehensive service for agents and buyers alike. This acquisition reinforces idealista’s position as Spain’s top property portal and sets the stage for further innovation in the European online property market.

Europe: Scout24 acquires new-build property marketplace NeuBau Kompass

Scout24, the operator behind Germany’s leading real estate marketplace Immobilienscout24.de has acquired the new-build marketplace NeuBau Kompass for an undisclosed sum.

Scout24's press release stated:

By integrating neubau kompass’ products into the ImmoScout24 ecosystem, agents and property developers benefit from direct access to potential buyers, compelling presentation, and specialisation in newly built properties. neubau kompass’ customers will further profit from ImmoScout24's reach, brand, and innovative power.

Tobias Hartmann, CEO at Scout24, said:

"neubau kompass is serving a growing customer base in this increasingly important market. We very much look forward to bringing their product portfolio and customer experience to the ImmoScout24 ecosystem.

"By acquiring neubau kompass we are doubling down on the very important market for new residential properties. Germany needs to invest into housing, and together we will continue to actively push for this development to happen."

neubau kompass AG is a digital marketing platform for newly built residential real estate and property development projects in Germany.

Idealista Acquires Kyero

Idealista has agreed to acquire the UK-based second homes marketplace Kyero for an undisclosed sum.

Kyero will retain its operational independence and continue to partner with key real estate software providers and operators in its active markets. Kyero’s founders will continue to lead Kyero following the close of the acquisition and will join idealista’s management team.

This is idealista's seventeenth acquisition in the last sixteen years and is part of the company's inorganic growth strategy.

Jesús Encinar, founder and CEO of idealista, said:

"I am very pleased that Kyero, Louise and Martin, its founders, and their great team are part of idealista. I am sure that the future with both companies working together will improve results, user experience and new business opportunities for all our clients."

Asia: Competition watchdog approves PropertyGuru-Hedychium merger

Singapore’s competition watchdog has approved the acquisition of PropertyGuru by Hedychium Group.

Hedychium Group is indirectly owned by BPEA Private Equity Fund VIII, a fund advised by the nominal acquirer EQT.

The competition watchdog, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) said the merger would not substantially lessen competition in the Singapore market, citing the absence of overlapping goods or services between the two parties.

Glazer Capital acquires 1.4% stake in PropertyGuru

Meanwhile, New York City-based hedge fund Glazer Capital has paid $15.6 million to acquire a 1.43% stake in Singapore-based marketplace operator PropertyGuru.

PropertyGuru is currently under a privatisation takeover bid by EQT worth more than $1 billion.

Lamudi Indonesia acquires fintech aggregator Ideal

Lamudi Indonesia has acquired Ideal, a fintech aggregator for mortgage products in Indonesia.

The acquisition was executed through a debt-to-equity conversion—Lamudi is now the majority shareholder of Ideal.

United Kingdom: OneDome acquires mortgage broker service Coreco Group

OneDome continues its acquisition trail with the purchase of Coreco Group for an undisclosed sum.

Coreco Group directors Julian Ingall and Andrew Montlake will join OneDome’s management team and remain in their roles at Coreco.

OneDome operates an end-to-end homebuying solution, including a real estate portal, mortgage advice, application, conveyancing, and even a project manager for home moves.

The firm has been an active acquirer of businesses this year, including the purchases of payroll provider Caroola in October and mortgage advisory firm Albany Park in November.

Babek Ismayil, CEO and founder at OneDome, said:

"Bringing Coreco into the OneDome family is transformative for our vision of seamless property transactions.

"With the OneDome family now consisting of 170 members, including over 70 advisers, we are transforming homebuying for good."

United Kingdom: Zoopla launches suite of new ‘smart tags’ for property searches

Zoopla has improved its search experience for consumers with the launch of six new ‘smart tags’, driving more quality buyers for agents as a result.

Zoopla has used Natural Language Processing (NLP) to extract features from the description and computer vision to extract features from the images. Users can now filter by the six new criteria or smart tags; conservatory, cottage, en suite, kitchen island, patio and period property.

The tags, which can be used in conjunction with keywords to provide a more specific search experience, were added in response to their respective popularity with visitors to Zoopla's real estate portal.

Rich Hayes, Chief Operating Officer at Zoopla said:

"We want to make it as easy as possible for Zoopla users to make the next move, be it finding a suitable property to view, or submitting an enquiry. We’re confident that investing in a best-in-class search experience is a key way to unlock this and drive further ROI for our agent customers as a result."

United States: Zumper adds an AI assistant for renters

Rentals specialist Zumper has launched Zoe, a GenAI-based chatbot that responds to questions and requests from would-be tenants.

The new feature is based on ChatGPT-4o, the most up-to-date publicly available version of ChatGPT, and was developed by Zumper over six months.

Zoe, free to use for landlords, can answer virtually any question a prospective renter might have about a property or its neighbourhood—from pet policies to local amenities.

Users can also book viewings using the bot.

Anthemos Georgiades, co-founder and CEO at Zumper, said:

"At Zumper, we’re committed to building AI products that are transformational, not just headline seeking.

“We want to harness AI to empower both property managers and renters in a whole new way. Zoe is a game-changer for the rental industry — she offers 24/7 support to educate renters, narrow down their search and help set up their tours. Property managers should expect to receive far better informed and quality Zumper leads when Zoe passes them across."

Europe: Domclick adds subscription offer for agents with fewer listings

DomClick, the real estate vertical of Russia’s state-owned bank Sber, has added a subscription service designed for agents with fewer than 20 listings.

According to DomClick, 3 out of 4 real estate agencies post less than 20 properties for sale. Under the DomClick Pro package for agencies and private realtors, DomClick will offer fixed minimum subscription packages that include 19 placements and reduced rates for promoting their listings.

Domclick also adds video listings

Meanwhile, users of the DomClick app on Android can now view short video ads.

According to findings from DomClick's pilot test, such ads are up to 11 times more likely to be shared or added to favourites, and call conversions have doubled since their launch.

Asia: Singapore portal OhMyHome launches HomerAI

OhMyHome has launched HomerAI, an AI assistant the Singapore-based marketplace describes as “a one-stop shop for all home-related needs.”

Key features for the new assistant include home valuations, data on recent sales by area, monthly price averages, property insights for local neighbourhoods, highest and lowest sale prices by area, and a GPT-powered search function for creating a shortlist of suitable properties.

Lamudi Indonesia partners with Ray White

The Digital Classifieds Group-owned real estate portal Lamudi Indonesia has partnered with the realtor brand Ray White.

Under the terms of the collaboration, 297 agents in 78 Ray White offices have been integrated into Lamudi.

Johann Boyke Nurtanio, CEO of Ray White Indonesia, said:

"This collaboration is in line with our tagline in 2025: ‘Collaboration, consistency, perseverance.’ Collaborating with advanced technology from Lamudi, we can facilitate agents to work more efficiently and provide better services to clients.

"We believe that with the support of technology from Lamudi, our agents will be more effective and efficient in increasing productivity while facing the challenges of an increasingly competitive property market."

Highlights include:

• Overall Prosus revenues increased 20% YoY to $399 million
• OLX's real estate segment continued its healthy revenue increases by 21% to $73 million
• Real estate margins increase to 36%
• Group EBIT improves from a loss of $113m in H1 2024 to a profit of $60m in H1 2025
• Owner Naspers records revenue increased of 23% YoY, to US$3.4 billion.

Prosus, owned by Naspers, operates a highly diversified set of marketplace businesses across horizontals including food, e-commerce, automotive and real estate in Europe, South Africa and Brazil. The company also has a 38% stake in the Dubizzle Group.

Prosus Classifieds Assets

It was a strong set of results for Prosus, highlighting increased profitability, early-stage investment in AI technologies, improved cash flow and cash reserves, and a claim that the business is ready to create "the next $100 billion in value".

Prosus noted how real estate and motors are the fastest-growing segments and the segments with the highest growth potential in the future.

OLX real estate, driven by Otodom in Poland and Property24 in South Africa, generated revenues of $73 million in H1 FY2025, up from $59 million in the same period last year before increasing to $62 million in the second half of the year.

In other words, half-year to half-year revenues increased by 5% from H1 to H2 2024, and 18% from H2 2024 to H1 2025.

Meanwhile, monthly ARPA continues to achieve double-digit growth year over year, at 11% for the half-year. However, this is slightly lower than recent half-year results (17%, 22%, and 12%, respectively, in H1 2022, 2023, and 2024).

Overall OLX listing revenues increased 230% YoY, though this includes non-real estate assets, namely automotive classifieds websites like AutoTrader.

OLX Brazil recently announced that it is introducing a buyer-paid model for its (non-real estate) horizontal marketplace.