Opendoor sees opportunity in its stream of high-intent sellers 

After a tough 2024, Opendoor is focused on the positives despite housing market headwinds. 

Maybe that's because after layoffs, a reorganization and the introduction of a new home-pricing model, the industry's leading iBuyer boosted its annual revenue 25% — and is seeing strength in its seller funnel.

"We had 1.5 million people show up and enter their address in our website last year," Opendoor CEO Carrie Wheeler said during the company's Feb. 27 earnings call. "We did not convert 1.5 million people, certainly," Wheeler added — but Opendoor sees the potential to give those high-intent sellers a range of options "if the cash offer doesn't fit them perfectly."

And that, in turn, could help the company "unlock new revenue opportunities."

Building on Exclusives — and MLS listings

Wheeler highlighted some of those opportunities, including List with Opendoor, which allows sellers to list their home on the MLS with a backup cash offer from Opendoor in "nearly all of our markets," and Opendoor Exclusives, which is now available in Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, N.C. as well as the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

"These products give more sellers more choices. In 2025, we will continue expanding them," Wheeler said.

Seller choice has been a frequent reference in the debate over Clear Cooperation. When asked about the policy, Wheeler said:

"I think CCP is about giving consumers full access and transparency and availability. All those things are critical. But I also think at the same time, there's room for evolution. It doesn't always work for everyone to expose their home for the MLS, and we think people should have choice."

Opendoor Exclusives, Wheeler said, is becoming a product for sellers who are "shy" about putting their home on the MLS because the home might not be in great condition and "they don't want to expose themselves to the taint of days on market."

This also benefits buyers by increasing the number of available homes, she added, especially given challenges around affordability. "So we'll continue to iterate and test in a very measured investment way in the three markets we've got."

And when a seller comes to Opendoor from a place the company doesn't serve, it will continue to "introduce them to an agent in their market that can go on to help them figure out that solution."

Key numbers

Revenue: $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter, up 25% year-over-year. For the full year, revenue was $5.2 billion, down 26% from 2023.

Cash and cash equivalents: $671 million, down from $999 million at the end of 2023.

Net loss: $113 million in the fourth quarter versus $91 million during the same period the year before. Annual losses increased to $392 million for 2024 compared with a $275 million loss in 2023.

Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization): A loss of $142 million, improved from a loss of $627 million in 2023.

Units acquired/sold: 14,684 homes purchased in 2024, up 30.6% from 11,246 in 2023, with 1,705 homes under contract at the end of Q4, down 19% year over year. Opendoor bought 2,951 homes in the fourth quarter, down 20% compared to Q4 of 2023.
Inventory: 6,417 homes with a value of $2.159 billion, up from 5,326 homes with a value of $1.775 billion in 2023.

The other iBuyer: Offerpad improves losses 

Offerpad, the other major player in the iBuying space, reported a net loss of $62.2 million in 2024, which included a fourth-quarter loss of $17.3 million. However, that's an improvement of 47% over the prior year.

Offerpad CEO Brian Bair called out "tremendous product improvements" and highlighted the company's Renovate program, which delivered more than $18 million in revenue in 2024, a 49% increase. Renovate leverages Offerpad's capabilities to manage property improvements for clients ranging from institutional investors to individual operators.