Realtor.com partners with Offerpad

Offerpad is integrating its cash offer business with Realtor.com in a bid to reach more sellers as mortgage activity remains unpredictable given volatile interest rates.

Prospective sellers can enter their address on Realtor.com, select a cash offer option and complete a form to receive an instant offer, the companies said Tuesday. The Chandler, Arizona-based Offerpad allows sellers to choose their closing date and offers them a free move within a 50-mile radius. 

The program will complement a function on Realtor.com that allows homeowners to select from multiple listing agent proposals, said Blake Elmquist, vice president of seller category management at Realtor.com. 

Offerpad, founded in 2015, rose alongside other instant buyers during the hot housing market of yesteryear. It went public in 2021 in a $3 billion merger with a special purpose acquisition company. The real estate platform has since felt the effects of rising home prices and the "lock-in" effect, selling 847 homes in the first quarter this year, down from 1,609 transactions over the same period a year ago. 

The business meanwhile acquired 806 homes in the first quarter, up both quarterly and annually. Its $17.5 million net loss was greater than the last three months of 2023, but better than the $59.4 million deficit it posted in the first quarter of last year. 

Executives in an earnings conference call last month said they're being "very cautious" regarding growth for the platform's cash offer business. 

"We're focused right now on the performance of each home that we buy as the sensitivity to affordability is very, very high right now," said James Grout, senior vice president of finance, during the call. "We have started to expand our buy box that's buying up funnel a little bit more of the 2 to 4 (unit properties) to more of the 200 to 600 price points."

Offerpad also recently tapped Peter Knag, an investment banking veteran and former chief financial officer for media giant Turner Broadcasting System, to the same position effective last week. The company's stock has declined precipitously since its Wall Street debut, and nearly a year after a 1-for-15 reverse stock split is trading at $4.92 per share as of Tuesday midday. 

Realtor.com, a subsidiary of Move Inc. which is owned by the Murdoch family, meanwhile reported traffic of 72 million average monthly users on its web and mobile sites, according to a fiscal third quarter earnings report in May. The conglomerate said that traffic was flat year-over-year but up quarterly. Lead volume on the website also jumped 4% for the first time in two years.