Housing.com not actively seeking acquisition, open for opportunities: CEO

Proptech firm REA India, which owns Housing.com and PropTiger, is not actively looking for acquisition for further growth but the company is open to evaluate "interesting" opportunities that complement the business or help in securing new technologies, its CEO Dhruv Agarwala said.

REA India, which is part of Australia-based REA Group, will focus on consolidating its both businesses -- real estate classified platform Housing.com and residential brokerage portal PropTiger.com, he added.

In an interview with PTI, Agarwala, who is also CEO of Housing.com and PropTiger, said there is no plan of acquisition in near future.

However, he said, "We always remain open if there is an interesting opportunity, which might help us bring in better talent or help us fulfill a product gap like we did for mortgage, or if we see an interesting technology. In that sense we are open, but not sort of actively seeking acquisitions..

He emphasised that the focus would be on growth of existing businesses, make them stronger.

Agarwala said the monthly web traffic on Housing.com is more than 20 million and the company would focus on increasing this number to have a significant lead over competitors.

That apart, he said the company would also focus on driving the traffic to Housing.com app, where consumer engagement is better leading to quality lead generation for its clients --real estate developers and property brokers.

The traffic on Housing.com app grew 43 per cent in the first six months of 2023-24 fiscal ending June, Agarwala highlighted.

REA India's revenue grew 21 per cent to 44 million Australian dollars (nearly Rs 240 crore) during the July-December period.

In the year-ago period, the revenue stood at AUD (Australian dollar) 36 million.

Agarwala highlighted that revenue from its core businesses -- advertising and housing brokerage -- grew 32 per cent to AUD 32 million.

But, the adjacency business, where it provides other related services to customers like movers and packers, insurance and mortgage, remained flat at AUD 12 million.

REA India revenue had increased 46 per cent to more than Rs 430 crore in 2022-23 fiscal (July-June) as against nearly Rs 300 crore revenue in 2021-22.

Asked about the timeline to achieve break- even, Agarwala said the company's losses peaked in 2022-23 and it would keep reducing every fiscal year.

"We will continue to invest in the business to extend our market leadership and to become a clear number one in the Indian market. Having said that, you know, as we have committed to the analyst that we will keep bringing down losses year on year after FY'23," he said, adding that there has been a reduction in the first half as well.

In December 2020, Australia's REA Group acquired a controlling stake in Elara Technologies, which earlier owned these three portals, and renamed it as REA India.

Housing.com, which was founded in 2012, is a proptech platform for homeowners/home seekers, landlords, developers, and real estate brokers.

It offers listings for new homes, resale homes, rentals, plots, commercial spaces and co-living spaces in India.

Founded in 2011, PropTiger.com is a housing brokerage firm. Makaan.com is an advertising platform.