More real estate agents taking out more expensive listings on realestate.com.au have helped boost REA Group's half year earnings.
The lift in revenue comes despite the real estate industry reporting flat growth in the number of property listings.
REA Group's profit in the six months to December 31 rose 28 per cent to $121 million on the prior corresponding period.
The company credited solid revenue growth from its Australian portals for the strong result, and driving this growth was real estate agents' willingness to pay more for top tier product listings, called Premiere All.
"The success of our Premiere All product helped deliver a 24 per cent increase in revenue in the residential business, despite the real estate industry reporting flat listing volumes," a company statement said.
Its Australian business, which includes realestate.com.au and realcommercial.com.au, grew 22 per cent to nearly $290 million with real estate agency numbers up seven per cent in the half compared to the same period a year ago.
The group's media and developer revenue also increased by 24 per cent, primarily due to a strong take up of its developer products, particularly Project Profiles, which caters for the presentation of large developments to prospective buyers.
Chief executive Tracey Fellows said the group's realestate portals attract more than 42 million visits a month on average.
"Our audience continues to grow as we innovate and deliver even better experiences for consumers," she said.
She said consumers were able to access personalised property data from more devices now, including location specific alerts from its real estate app on the Apple Watch6.
The company is also expected to finalise its takeover of Asian portal iProperty in coming weeks, she added.
REA Group already has a Chinese property site, myfun.com, which showcases Australian property listings to potential Chinese investors and operates property websites and apps in Italy, Luxembourg and France.
The group's share price has slipped despite the strong half year result.
Bell Direct equities analyst Julia Lee said the results were impressive but were not enough to offset the market's concern about the future growth of the housing industry.
"Given the stock is close to its all time high, which already prices in this growth, the market has some concerns about its ability to continue to grow," she said.
"Despite REA's track record of performing well, there appears to be nervousness about giving it a higher valuation in what's possibly the top of the housing market cycle."
REA Group's share price closed $1.86 lower, or 3.63 per cent, at $49.36.
HIGHER AD COSTS LIFTS PROFITS
* Half year net profit up 28pct to $121m
* Revenue up 20pct to $314.8m
* Interim dividend up 22pct to 36 cents
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