Australian PropTech Roundup: Realestateview, REIWA and BoxBrownie

Three pieces of personnel news from Australia to bring you this week as the real estate marketing industry down under heats up...

Antony Catalano looks to become the majority shareholder of Realestateview ahead of potential IPO

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the former CEO of Domain, Antony Catalano is planning to increase his stake in the Australian challenger portal Realestateview.com.au before taking the company public by the end of the Australian financial year.

Together with billionaire business partner Alex Waislitz, Catalano acquired around 30% of the portal business back in 2020 through the investment company IMP. Now the pair, who together own the publishing company Australian Community Media, plan to increase their stake in the business to 72% this week by offering $75 million in marketing and promotion.

According to the SMH the plan is for IMP to merge together several media companies that it either owns or controls before listing publicly on the ASX to take on Newscorp backed REA Group and Nine Entertainment Co’s Domain.

Quotes attributed to the former CEO of Domain are combative and show exactly which company Catalano believes Realestateview can compete against:

“Domain is a more vulnerable business than REA, primarily because its earnings haven’t grown over five years, and it has a lack of diversity in its operations, whereas REA has strong earnings, more significant inroads in the mortgage market and valuable international assets.”

REIWA appoints Cath Hart as CEO

Western Australian real estate portal company REIWA (Real Estate Institute of Western Australia) has announced the appointment of Cath Hart as its new CEO. Hart was previously the Executive Director for Western Australia of the industry association The Housing Industry of Australia. She will take over from Neville Pozzi, who is retiring after 45 years at REIWA, 10 of which were as CEO.

REIWA President Damian Collins said the Institute was delighted to appoint Ms Hart as REIWA CEO.

“Cath has a strong background in advocacy and will bring significant commercial experience to the role. REIWA Council is excited about the great things REIWA can still achieve and we are confident Cath is the right person for the next phase of REIWA’s ongoing work on behalf of our members and the wider real estate industry," Mr Collins said.

REIWA.com.au is the public-facing portal of the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia, a non-profit agent association that dominates the region's property industry. The portal is very strong in the region where it is a legitimate competitor of REA Group's Realestate.com.au.

Founder Peter Schravemade leaves BoxBrownie

BoxBrownie is a popular listings tech company providing image enhancement, 3D tours and virtual staging to real estate companies in 110 countries around the world. Headquartered in Queensland Australia, the company has a strong presence overseas in markets such as the US in large part thanks to the tireless efforts of Schravemade who was in effect the public face of the company.

According to a statement given to Inman.com, Schravemade is leaving BoxBrownie to spend time with family but remains "equally excited for the future and look[ing] forward to whatever the next challenge might be".

Peter has been a regular attendee at Property Portal Watch events and we wish him all the best.