CoStar reshapes board, sharpening focus on Homes.com success 

An end to its contentious legal battle with home search rival Realtor.com hasn't been CoStar's only significant news this week. The company also announced a "refreshment" of its board, with an increased focus on Homes.com profitability.

Facing investor pressure, CoStar Group appointed three new independent directors and a new board chair. It also created a Capital Allocation Committee, which will support a "comprehensive review" of international expansion and brand investment efforts, according to an April 7 press release. Founder and CEO Andy Florance will serve as chair.

"As part of its work, the committee will review the company's ongoing investment in Homes.com and ensure an appropriate timeline for profitability," a CoStar Group spokesperson told Real Estate News over email. 

A closer look at the changes: These moves are part of a deal the company made with two hedge funds, D. E. Shaw and Third Point, to improve its performance, Reuters reported. 

Two new board members bring chief finance officer chops to the table: Rachel Glaser (formerly of Etsy) and Christine McCarthy (Disney), while the third, John Berisford, is a former executive with S&P Global, one of Wall Street's most trusted sources of data and insights.

Louise Sams, a member of the CoStar board for more than five years, will take over as board chair, bringing "considerable legal expertise," the company said, noting Sams spent nearly two decades as general counsel of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

Why it matters: Since CoStar acquired Homes.com in 2021, Florance has sought to make the brand a leading home search site, requiring billions of dollars in investment and resources. 

In 2023, CoStar launched a major content and SEO initiative, hiring an army of writers and photographers to produce original material for the site. In 2024, Florance upped the ante by announcing a $1 billion ad spend, which the company described as "the biggest marketing campaign in real estate history." The campaign included four ads during the Super Bowl — three for Homes.com and one for Apartments.com. 

The board shuffle comes just weeks after CoStar formally closed on its $1.6 billion acquisition of tech and imaging company Matterport — a big cost in which Florance sees major opportunity. Additionally, CoStar's lengthy legal entanglement with competitor Realtor.com was another hit to company coffers, despite only being on the hook for attorney fees and no damages. 

What CoStar had to say: "With the strength and support of the refreshed board, CoStar Group is well positioned to extend its long track record of creating stockholder value," Florance said in the release announcing the board changes. "We have invested in creating more than half a dozen highly profitable, category-leading digital real estate solutions by leveraging our research and development capabilities, massive data advantage and an online community of more than a billion real estate market participants."

A CoStar spokesperson told Real Estate News that the new board committee will review "capital structure, capital allocation priorities, and financial targets, including for international expansion and significant investments," that touch several CoStar brands and products, including Apartments.com and LoopNet, in addition to Homes.com.