News Corp Vows To Reenergize Realtor.com; LoanDepot Posts More Losses

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News Corp Vows To Reenergize Realtor.com

Following news that CoStar pulled out of talks to purchase Realtor.com, New Corp execs are now vowing to refocus on their real estate hub. 

In remarks at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telcom Conference, CEO Robert Thomson says he has made it a “personal priority” to grow Realtor.com after a “flux in the real estate segment” got in the way of a potential deal with CoStar. “We remain open and opportunistic.”

Thomson also did some walking back of the purchase rumors, adding: “To be clear, we had no intention of selling Realtor, but we were courted and wooed with a significant sum.”

As we reported on last month, News Corp confirmed that it was in discussion with CoStar to sell off Move Inc., with Bloomberg reporting the deal was in the neighborhood of $3 billion.

Losses Up For loanDepot

loanDepot has released both quarterly and annual earnings, painting a bleak picture for the lender. 

“2022 was a year of dramatic volatility and extreme challenge for the mortgage and broader housing markets,” said President and Chief Executive Officer Frank Martell. “Virtually no part of the housing ecosystem was left unaffected as participants in the housing market grappled with substantial and rapid increases in the cost of home loans, the cumulative impact of significant home price appreciation over the past four to five years driven by structural supply and demand imbalances, as well as the depressive impact of high inflation on available household incomes. 

In Q4 of 2022, loanDepot saw revenue decrease of $104.5 million driven primarily by lower market activity due to increased interest rates and seasonal slowdown in purchase volume. Net loss increased 15 percent to $157.8 million in fourth quarter from third quarter driven by lower revenues partially offset by aggressive expense reductions.

For 2022 as a whole, total revenue declined from $3.7 billion during 2021 to $1.3 billion during 2022 driven primarily by lower market volumes and exit of wholesale channel.

The lender ended the year with 5,200 employees, about 6,100 fewer than it began last year with—reducing expenses in the challenging market.