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Simon Baker was chief executive of REA Group from 2001 to 2008. By 2004, News Corp owned 44-per cent of the company. Baker was "dumped" according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
REA Group grew from realestate.com.au, Australia's largest property website with 4.4 million unique browsers each month. However, the strategy has been to aggressively expand the group internationally through acquisition.
In 2007, REA Group acquired 59% of casa.it in Italy, which was increased to 70% the year after, before acquiring 100% in 2011. That same year in February 2007, REA Group acquired atHome, a group of real estate websites in Luxembourg, France, Germany and Belgium.
UK Property Shop was acquired by REA Group in July 2008.
In August 2009, Zoopla acquired the PropertyFinder Group, with combined annual revenues of £7 million, from prior owners the REA Group and News International for an undisclosed sum.
In 2010, the company created an iOS mobile application for realestate.com.au.
REA bought 20% of US company Move, inc. in 2014, which runs the United States real estate listings website Realtor.com. This was the company's first move into North America.
In July 2015, realestate.com.au announced a new agreement with Inspect Real Estate (IRE) making booking rental inspections easier for property managers and Australians looking to rent a home by implementing IRE's RegisterOnline property inspection booking button.
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In 2016, the company acquired flatmates.com.au, as well as launching realestate.com.au, a virtual property app on Google Daydream.
In January 2017, REA Group acquired 14.7% of digital real estate marketing platform, Elara Technologies (Elara).
In June 2018, the company acquired 100% of Hometrack Australia, a provider of property data services to the financial sector.
In 2020, the company earned A$820.3 million in FY20 revenue. The company had over 2,600 employees and over 20 brands owned and invested in across eight countries.
In June 2021, REA Group acquired a 34% interest in Simpology. The company offers lodgment and digital mortgage application solutions for broking and lending industries.
In September 2024, REA Group announced it was considering a cash and share takeover bid for Rightmove. The news caused Rightmove's shares to surge by 25%, raising its market value to £5.4 billion. No formal takeover offer was made. Analysts noted that REA's interest in Rightmove seemed more financial than strategic, though the acquisition could have offered valuable strategic insights and opportunities in mortgages and commercial property.
From Wikipedia’s article on REA Group, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.6