Australia's Domain to Sell Adjacent Businesses as CoStar Vision Takes Shape

Domain, Australia's second real estate portal, will sell several assets as it focuses on its core business model under new ownership, with Ad Astra brought in as a financial adviser to support the divestments. No timeline was disclosed, but the divestments will likely close by the end of 2026.

Reporting from The Real Estate Conversation suggests that adjacent businesses will be divested imminently, including the agent workflow solutions, Campaigntrack, Real Time Agent and Realhub, the digital proposals platform Engage, and IDS, a private statutory valuation workflow platform.

Jason Pellegrino, Domain President at CoStar Group, said:

“This decision reflects our confidence in focusing on where we are best placed to create the greatest value for customers. This means investing in our core property platforms where we have global strength, experience and capabilities to leverage, rather than owning every part of the value chain and maintaining assets that cannot easily benefit from these advantages. These are strong assets being divested, and they play an important role in their customers’ workflows, and we are committed to a smooth transition. We believe now is the right time for new owners who can provide the dedicated focus and investment these products require, ensuring the best outcome for customers."

A notice posted on Domain's Agent website said:

Domain has made the decision to divest the following agent workflow software solutions: Realhub, Engage, Campaigntrack and Real Time Agent.

This move allows Domain to focus our attention on delivering world-leading property and data platforms, maximising the global capabilities, experience and scale of CoStar Group. 

We know that these software solutions play a critical role in your daily workflow.  You can be assured that the great service provided by our account management, support, and product teams will continue. Operations and active campaigns will not be disrupted.

We value the partnership we have built with you and will make this process as seamless as possible. 

Please reach out to your account manager if you have any questions. 

News of wholesale divestments by Domain is unsurprising given the strong indications by CoStar boss Andy Florance that the business had become caught up in an unfocused strategy in the years leading up to last year's acquisition. Florance told Online Marketplaces that a ruthless cleanup operation would be a central pillar to turning a Domain into a serious competitive force in Australia after several years of ceding ground to realestate.com.au.

Many of the divestments will come just a few years after the affected assets were acquired. Real Time Agent was acquired in November 2019. IDS was acquired in September 2021, and RealBase (consisting of RealHub, Campaign Track Engage, and AIM) was acquired in April 2022.

Online Marketplaces has reached out to CoStar for additional comments and will update this story accordingly.