OnTheMarket owner CoStar Group has reported a big drop in revenue, but it hasn’t stopped the global giant from making a bid for Australia’s number two portal.

Full-year net income was down last year to $139 million from $375 million in 2023, Onlinemarketplaces reports.

Undaunted, CoStar has submitted a massive $1.72 billion bid for Aussie portal Domain, after making its intent clear by purchasing a 16.9% stake.

Unseat Rightmove

When CoStar purchased OTM in 2023 for £100 million, it made a bold claim that it intended to unseat Rightmove as the best performing portal in the UK.

Last year, OTM and Zoopla crossed swords after OTM claimed it was now the number two portal with greater online traffic.

CoStar, which has 75 offices in 13 countries, bought US portal Homes.com in 2021, in an attempt to challenge Zillow in the American market.

And CoStar Founder and CEO Andy Florance said last year that OTM could be rebranded as Homes.com.

Under fire

OTM’s performance was thrown under the spotlight after the Federation of Independent Agents (FIA) revealed just 18% of agents it canvassed had seen an increase in leads from the portal since it was bought by CoStar.

OTM’s competitor Rightmove has been under fire this month after hiking agent fees 18%.

Independent agent Shaun Adams organised a petition, which has now collected more than 1,000 signatures, calling for an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into Rightmove’s pricing.

And City analysts have warned that a fees probe could hit Rightmove’s share price and force a rethink.