Norfolk-based Homes.com to be acquired by CoStar Group
A national commercial real estate information, analytics and online marketplace company is acquiring Norfolk-based Homes.com for $156 million.
Homes.com, a real estate and marketing portal for residential property listings, is a subsidiary of Dominion Enterprises headquartered on Granby Street in Norfolk.
The buyer, CoStar Group Inc., was founded in 1987 and maintains its corporate office in Washington, D.C.
Dave Mele, president of Homes.com and a former publisher of The Virginian-Pilot, said in a news release: “Together we will be dedicated to growing the Homes.com brand and building innovative solutions that expand the marketing options available to consumers and their agents.”
Started more than 25 years ago, Homes.com has grown to support more than 500,000 residential agents and brokers, maintains close to 1.8 million listings and sees approximately 5 million visitors to its site each month.
CoStar’s founder and chief executive officer, Andrew Florance, said in the release that the acquisition pairs well with Homesnap, the national residential real estate search site CoStar acquired in December.
Florance said the two could potentially form a service focused on “selling a house faster and at a better price, rather than just trying to take agent fees.”
“Our plan in bringing Homesnap and Homes.com together is to help agents market their listings in support of the ‘your listing, your lead’ philosophy — which stands in contrast to most players in the industry,” Florance stated.
Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, sandra.pennecke@insidebiz.com
