Lead generation revenue from agents has never been higher.
Revenue for Lead Generation Pouring in from Agents
Realtor.com and Zillow have always made a lot of their respective revenue from real estate agents. In fact, these companies have been in a race to see which one could rake in more from agents for their lead generation offerings.
Zillow has been the consistent winner of this horse race over time with an average revenue lead of 2.5 times over Realtor.com BUT, in Q2 2021, Realtor.com came down to the wire much ahead of Zillow.
How the Companies Stacked Up in Q2 2021
Regarding lead generation revenue from agents in Q2 2021, Zillow increased its premier agent revenues by +4% or $14M. Realtor.com, on the other hand, increased its agent revenues by a whopping +18% of $24M in Q2 2021.
These revenues are specific to each company’s lead generation programs, excluding other revenue programs such as iBuying or mortgage/title services.
Realtor.com’s big uptick in agent revenue could, according to Mike DelPrete, real estate tech guru, have been potentially driven by the company’s expansion of its Opcity referral program that now makes up 30% of Realtor.com’s total revenues.
Possible Implications
Could Zillow’s slip in agent revenue represent the beginning of a trend or a simple, short-term blip in the scheme of things (which has happened before, by the way.)
According to DelPrete, quarterly earnings from the past three years indicate that both Realtor.com and Zillow are “within the normal bounds of fluctuations.”
Total Agent Spend Up +55% Over Past 2 Years
Whatever is going on among Zillow and Realtor.com competitively, it appears that real estate agents are more willing than ever to throw more money at Realtor.com and Zillow by buying leads.
Two years ago, agents funneled a total of $327M to Zillow and Realtor.com combined. This Q2 2021, agents funneled a total of $507M to these two real estate portals.
Thanks to Mike DelPrete and Inman.
