MELBOURNE, May 15, 2026, 08:05 AEST
REA Group Ltd (ASX:REA) said it bought back 33,457 shares for A$5.74 million on Wednesday under its A$200 million on-market buyback, taking total purchases to 554,112 shares and about A$89.6 million. An on-market buyback means the company buys its own shares through normal exchange trading, rather than through a separate offer to investors.
The update matters now because REA shares closed Thursday at A$161.24, down 5.7%, putting fresh pressure on a capital return that had looked steadier after last week’s quarterly results. The stock is still above its late-March low, but the move brought valuation back into focus.
The buyback is landing while the property-listings backdrop looks less weak. REA’s April listings report, released Thursday, showed national new buy listings on realestate.com.au rose 19.4% from a year earlier, helped in part by a softer April 2025 comparison around Easter and Anzac Day; total buy listings were still down 5.3%.
REA last week said core revenue for the quarter ended March 31 rose 11% excluding merger and acquisition effects to A$398 million, while operating EBITDA — earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation — rose 16% to A$220 million. Residential revenue climbed 12%, national buy-listing volumes returned to growth at 1%, and buy yield, the amount earned from sale listings, pricing and add-on products, rose 14%. Chief Executive Cameron McIntyre said the result reflected “double digit revenue growth” across Australian businesses and “strong double-digit yield growth” in residential.
Rates add a harder edge. The Reserve Bank of Australia raised the cash rate to 4.35% on May 5 and said inflation was likely to stay above target “for some time”; prediction-market pricing on Polymarket’s June RBA contract showed an 80% chance of no change and a 20% chance of another increase. For a property portal, steady or rising rates can pull some sellers into the market, but they can also sap buyer confidence. Reserve Bank of Australia
But the setup can cut both ways. Morningstar equity analyst Roy Van Keulen wrote that REA was “overearning this year” and its shares looked “materially overvalued,” arguing that listing volumes had been lifted by “deteriorating investor sentiment.” He also cited CoStar-backed Domain, regulatory intervention and possible property-price declines as longer-term limits on REA’s pricing power. Morningstar
Competitive pressure is not theoretical. CoStar completed its acquisition of Domain in August and said the deal would bring more competition to Australian agents, vendors and homebuyers; CoStar CEO Andy Florance said Domain would push for a “more compelling user experience at a lower cost.” CoStar Group, Inc.
The broader market may give REA a firmer open, with ABC News reporting ASX 200 futures up 0.7% to 8,720 at about 7:40 a.m. AEST after gains on Wall Street. For REA’s share price, Friday’s trade is a cleaner test: whether fresh listings data and the buyback outweigh valuation worries, higher rates and a more aggressive Domain.
