CoStar acquires Matterport — and all its data
The move gives the Homes.com parent company access to a massive amount of digital property information as it looks to strengthen its residential presence.
Real estate giant CoStar is building on its bold push into the residential space with the acquisition of Matterport, the industry leader in capturing photorealistic virtual property tours.
The cash-and-stock deal, announced Monday, is worth an estimated $1.6 billion.
What CoStar is saying: "CoStar Group and Matterport have nearly identical mission statements of digitizing the world's real estate. I look forward to welcoming Matterport to the CoStar Group family and believe that we will be stronger together, in pursuit of our common mission," Andy Florance, founder and CEO of CoStar Group, said in a statement.
Why it matters: The move is significant, but not unexpected in a space where CoStar, Zillow, Realtor and other major home search portals are in an arms race to acquire as much information about the nation's houses as possible.
In fact, industry observers Greg Robertson and Rob Hahn predicted in a 2022 podcast that CoStar would make such a move, comparing it to the company's Homesnap acquisition. The purchase of Homesnap, which was eventually shuttered at the end of 2022, served as fuel for the growth of CoStar's primary consumer site, Homes.com.
Buying Matterport would enable CoStar to make the strategic choice to say "we'll do a scan of your house" — for free — "and he owns all of that," Robertson said in the podcast.
Zillow has carved out its own niche in the space with its 3D Home offering and various advancements in its ShowingTime+ suite of products, all of which aim to provide a more immersive experience for consumers.
More about Matterport: Matterport, founded in 2011, is known for developing the first 3D capture technology to create "digital twins" for any type of property. Its tech is used in nearly every sector of real estate, and the company says it has a global collection of spatial property data worldwide, with 12 million spaces captured in 177 countries representing more than 38 billion square feet. It also has a global network of photographers and "capture technicians."
"We are thrilled to join forces with Costar Group, a long-standing customer and partner with a shared vision for transforming global real estate through technology and digitization," said RJ Pittman, Chair and CEO of Matterport.
The deal is still subject to the approval of stockholders as well as regulatory approvals but is expected to be completed this year.