Costar Group’s Homes Site Traffic Soars, Bodes Favorably for Monetization Efforts

Bank of America (BofA) has maintained a Buy rating and set a price target of $101 for CoStar Group Inc., noting on Tuesday that traffic to one of the company’s websites has surged significantly.

Analysts from BofA highlighted that traffic to Homes.com, a residential website owned by CoStar, is experiencing impressive growth. According to their analysis, the website recorded over 100 million unique visitors in September, a substantial increase from just 38 million unique visitors in June, and surpassing its near-term target of 50 million unique visitors.

In comparison, BofA pointed out that this traffic level exceeds that of competing websites like Realtor.com, which recorded 74 million and 52 million unique monthly visits as of the end of June 2023. This surge in website traffic is seen as a positive indicator for CoStar’s future monetization strategies.

Despite this increase in traffic, BofA noted that the company’s plans for monetizing Homes.com have not changed, with expectations set for the second quarter of 2024. Initially, there had been speculation that the timeline for monetization could shift to the first quarter of 2024, leading to some potential confusion among investors. However, CoStar has reiterated that its plans have remained consistent since its second-quarter 2023 updates.