CoStar Makes Strategic Acquisition to Further Hold Claim to the US Residential Market

The move puts it in direct competition with other big-hitters like Zillow

Further supporting its foray into the residential sector, CoStar Group has entered an agreement to acquire Homesnap for $250 million, making it a direct rival of market giant, Zillow.

Known for being one of the top providers of commercial real estate data and analytics, CoStar began its journey into residential real estate with apartments.com, and later, with the purchase of real estate auction platform, auction.com’s parent company, Ten-X.

Homesnap brings with it a portfolio of 90% of the residential real estate market in the U.S., tripling CoStar’s current market coverage.

CoStar Group founder and CEO Andy Florance said:

“We will continue to differentiate our residential real estate portal and solutions by working solely to help agents market their [Homesnap] listings and their brands, which is in sharp contrast to other portals that increasingly advertise on top of agent listings and offer brokerage services directly.”

By itself, Homesnap has yet to be able to compete with the big-hitters in the U.S. market.

“We are excited to join CoStar Group and leverage their 30 years of knowledge and experience in property data, software and marketing to take advantage of this significant growth opportunity.”