Zillow Group is acquiring Mortgage Lenders of America in its quest to own more of the home buying process. The Seattle real estate juggernaut announced the acquisition with its second-quarter earnings report Monday.
The company’s total revenue for the second quarter was $325.2 million, a 22 percent year-over-year increase. Zillow Group reported profits of 13 cents per share, excluding certain costs, beating analyst expectations of 10 cents a share by that measure.
Mortgage Lenders of America is a national brokerage headquartered in Overland Park, Kan. The acquisition brings the lender’s 300 employees into the Zillow Group fold. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Earlier this year, Zillow launched a new line of business: buying and selling homes directly, starting with Phoenix, Ariz. Zillow purchased 19 homes in Phoenix in the second quarter of 2018. By acquiring a mortgage lender, Zillow is positioning itself to serve customers at more stages of the home buying process.
“We’re taking our huge advantages, which are our audience and our brand and our resources, and expanding into other business vertically,” Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff said on the company’s second-quarter earnings call.
Zillow Group reported 186 million average monthly users in the second quarter, a 4 percent year-over-year increase across its brands, which include Zillow, Trulia, RealEstate.com, StreetEasy and others.
“This quarter also marked a major milestone in Zillow Group’s history, as we launched our Homes business and began buying houses directly from homeowners in two cities through Zillow Offers,” Rascoff said in a statement. “At this exciting time in the real estate industry, Zillow Group is committed to developing innovative technology and services, like Zillow Offers and, with today’s announcement, potential for mortgage originations, that help our partners meet evolving consumer expectations, while generating more revenue opportunities.”
