Realtor.com® is expanding its lead generation offerings for real estate professionals by bringing a new tech platform under its umbrella. News Corp, which owns Move Inc. and realtor.com®, announced it will be acquiring Opcity, a tech program that matches qualified home buyers and sellers with real estate professionals in real time.
Opcity culls proprietary data sets to capture online leads and instantly connects clients who are ready to act with real estate professionals. Since 2015, Opcity has grown its U.S. client base to more than 5,000 brokerages and more than 40,000 agents.
“By pairing personalized outreach with cutting-edge technology, Opcity has built a best-in-class platform that delivers close rates three to five times the industry average,” says Move CEO Ryan O’Hara. “This acquisition will help us bring buyers, sellers, and agents together with as much simplicity, efficiency, and choice as possible.”
Bob Goldberg, CEO of the National Association of REALTORS®—which is holding its inaugural Innovation, Opportunity, and Investment Summit in San Francisco this week—says the acquisition is a sign of the real estate industry’s commitment to embracing technology for the betterment of service to buyers and sellers. “The fact that this news is coming out at the same time that we’re bringing together startups, investors, and the REALTOR® community here in San Francisco just underscores the incredible synergy that we’re seeing in the real estate community at this moment,” he says. “When we partner with smart companies to bring new efficiencies and opportunities to REALTORS®, everyone wins.”
Digital real estate services have become the fastest-growing segment of News Corp, a media and publishing business that owns titles like The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s. The real estate revenues for Move Inc. increased 20 percent in the fiscal year that ended June 30. With earnings at $452 million in fiscal 2018, Move Inc. has nearly doubled its revenues since News Corp acquired it in 2014.
“Through product innovation and powerful media platforms, News Corp is increasing its presence and capabilities in the burgeoning digital real estate services market,” says Robert Thomson, chief executive of News Corp.
News Corp will be purchasing Opcity for about $210 million.
The realtor.com® domain is owned by the National Association of REALTORS®, but the site is operated by Move Inc.
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