People Roundup: CoStar Group, BCG, immobilien.de, Allhomes

September 18, 2026

We have a People Roundup for you this week, starting in the United States...

 

North America: CoStar Group appoints new President for Homes.com

Felix Kusch has been named President at Homes.com, CoStar Group's residential portal in the United States.

Kusch spent the last several years running two of Europe's leading real estate portals. He was CEO of Immoweb, the number one portal in Belgium and CEO of Immowelt, the number two portal in Germany. Before that, he led M&A work at Axel Springer Digital involving a number of the continent's real estate marketplaces, and he has served on the boards of Meilleurs Agents and Lamudi.

Andy Florance, CEO at CoStar Group, said:

"I'm pleased to welcome Felix Kusch to CoStar Group as President of Homes.com. Felix has run two of Europe's top real estate portals and beaten some of the toughest competitors in the industry to do it, that's exactly the experience we want leading Homes.com. He's proven that he can take on an established competitor and come out on top. Our model and his are the same: you win by putting the property and agent first, not by selling agent's leads to multiple agents. I am confident Felix is the right leader to get Homes.com to number one in the U.S."

Kusch added:

"I've watched what CoStar Group has built with Homes.com from across the Atlantic, and it's the same fight I've spent my career in: earning trust by promoting the property, not shopping the lead. I've done that in Belgium and in Germany. Now I get to do it in the biggest residential real estate market in the world and I couldn't be more ready to get started with the CoStar Group team."

In Q2 2026, CoStar Group's residential segment turned adjusted EBITDA positive, generating $12 million, a $41 million increase from the first quarter. Homes.com revenue grew 66% year over year to $28.5 million.

 

Europe: Baltic Classifieds Group names new COO

Artūras Mizeras has been named Chief Operating Officer at BCG, stepping up from the role of Development Director. Incumbent Simonas Orkinas will leave the company after 17 years.

Mizeras will oversee operations, product development, technology, and innovation across the group, which operates leading marketplace businesses in Estonia and Lithuania.

Commenting on LinkedIn, CEO Justinas Simkus said:

"[Artūras] brings a rare combination of deep technical expertise and genuine entrepreneurial instinct, having founded the very business we acquired that brought him into our company. That blend of skills — building things from the ground up and knowing how to scale them — is exactly what we need as innovation in our industry continues to accelerate. He’s genuinely passionate about AI and has already been shaping how it’s used across the group, and I’m confident he’ll bring that same speed, ownership, and vision to this new role."

 

Immobilien.de appoints Sandra Zipp as Senior Advisor

Immobilien.de has appointed Sandra Zipp as a senior advisor as the portal shifts towards an agentic property search platform.

Zipp joins from Immowelt after 18 years, where she was most recently as Chief Marketing Officer.

In a post on the company's LinkedIn page, Immobilien.de said:

"We are evolving from the classic listing portal to an agentic property search. In the future, real estate will no longer be searched for and found only via classic portals. The search is increasingly starting with ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and Instagram and TikTok have long played a role in the discovery of real estate.

"For us, therefore, there is one question above all: How do we translate this change in such a way that brokers and owners benefit from it in concrete terms?

"It is precisely on such strategic issues that Sandra will advise our management from 1 September onwards and will also contribute her network in the German real estate and portal industry.

Immobilien.de is Germany's oldest property marketplace, launching in July 1996.

 

Oceania: Allhomes appoints new General Manager

Francesca Gasteen has been confirmed as General Manager of Allhomes, Canberra's property portal owned by Domain and CoStar Group, after holding the role on an interim basis since July 2025. Gasteen has over 20 years’ experience across real estate media, sales leadership, strategic partnerships and commercial growth.

Belinda Sinclair, Domain’s Vice President of Residential and Revenue Operations, said:

"When Canberrans think residential property, they think Allhomes. We’re proud to have Canberra’s leading property website part of our Domain network, with access to our nation-leading insights and data to the residential property market. Ms Gasteen’s dedication, ethic and motivation for our customers and partners throughout her career at Domain and Allhomes is well-regarded, and we are pleased to appoint her to this leadership role."

September 18, 2026
Harvey is an accidental real estate journalist and professional copywriter. He has written about the property industry since 2015, starting at The Property Franchise Group in the UK, before moving to Spain to work for Spotahome. He has worked as a freelance copywriter since 2021, with a special focus on startups real estate. Harvey joined Online Marketplaces as a News Editor in 2022, writing over 2000 news stories and interviewing dozens of high profile industry leaders both in-person and as a co-host of the PPW Podcast.

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