Homely FY24 Results: Membership Revenue up 24% for Agent-Backed Australian Challenger

Australian challenger portal Homely has released its full-year results for 2024.

Highlights include:

• 24% increase in membership revenue
• 12% increase in Vendor Paid Advertising (VPA) revenue in the first half of 2024
• Over 135 million site and app visits
• Significant rise in Homely Plus Uplift customers onboarded and new agencies listing on Homely.com.au
• Secured a key strategic partnership with Australian classifieds giant Gumtree

Homely is Australia's fourth property portal nominally, a private company that is therefore not obliged to share specific financial results with the market. However, Homely is an agent-supported venture and therefore benefits from sharing some insights with the market to retain the trust of its stakeholders.

Founded by the Spencer brothers, Adam and Jason, in 2014, Homely faces off against one of the most powerful portals in the world, Realestate.com.au, part of the News Corp-owned REA Group.

The portal has carved out a user-friendly niche that appears to be paying off—Homely has circa 700 strategic partners to complement its agent-supported proposition.

And the founders are confident that Homely is gaining market share in Australia, pointing towards their user-friendly content as a differentiating factor for home seekers in Australia.

Adam and Jason Spencer, co-founders at Homely, told Online Marketplaces:

"With growing mistrust towards media-owned real estate portals, we’re seeing more people turn to Homely as the trusted alternative. Our street and suburb reviews offer incredible value to property seekers, simplifying the property search.

"This unique content helps buyers and renters find their ideal home with confidence that comes from additional local knowledge - people often tell us how much Homely enhances their experience, particularly by providing valuable insights into neighbourhoods before they even step foot in an open inspection. Our platform is frequently praised for being more user-friendly than others, and the increase in returning visitors and feature engagement reflects Homely’s growing role as the go-to choice for buyers, sellers and renters."

Homely highlighted a major partnership with Gumtree one of Australia’s largest classifieds platforms, boasting over 5 million unique monthly visitors, which Homely says will lead to "significantly increased visibility to property listings on its portal and provide agents with greater audience reach".

The firm's headline product is Homely Plus, which offers cost-effective digital advertising on its portal, which Homely says was a major driver of membership revenue in the first half of the year; the portal claims "hundreds of new Homely Plus Uplift customers and new agencies [started] listing properties on the platform during the first half of the year."

In addition to an extra 24% in membership revenue over 2023, Homely also reported a healthy 12% increase in VPA revenue compared to the first half of 2023.

Homely said:

"Homely Plus Uplift provides agents with enhanced engagement, visibility, and reach for their listings on Homely.com.au. Members also gain access to exclusive co-branded marketing opportunities, including cost-effective outdoor advertising and social media boosting tools. These features amplify the value for agents in supporting their own marketing efforts making it an even more attractive option for real estate professionals."