Seattle-based real estate tech company Redfin Corp. (Nasdaq: RDFN), on a call with investors Thursday, discussed how it could boost web traffic in light of its 21% year-over-year decline in revenue in the second quarter.
CEO Glenn Kelman highlighted Redfin's efforts to increase both its geographic reach and its inventory type through recent moves as it faces a housing market struggling amid high interest rates and decreased homebuying demand.
The company, which posted its quarterly earnings Thursday, reported $275.6 million in revenue during the second quarter, down from $349.0 million the year prior. Its net loss of $27.4 million for the quarter narrowed from last year, however, when it posted a $78.1 million loss during the second quarter
"Redfin had been a regional site where we had very strong traffic in coastal markets, but because of our retail model, we had been slow to launch in places like Cleveland or Kansas City. So expanding across the United States and offering a better listing search experience. ... has helped establish Redfin.com as one of the top places to go," Kelman said on the call. "Adding rental listings has just broadened our authority so that when people are searching for housing generally on Google, we are relevant not just for people looking for for-sale listings, but rental listings."
Redfin in 2021 acquired Atlanta-based RentPath for $608 million, paving the way for the company to start listing rentals in March 2022. Kelman at the time of announcing the RentPath acquisition said adding rentals would make Redfin a more full-service real estate destination and help the company compete with competitors like Zillow and Realtor.com.
In the second quarter of this year, Redfin's website and mobile app saw over 52 million average monthly users, down slightly from 53 million average monthly users during the second quarter of last year.
Like many residential real estate companies, Redfin has gone through multiple rounds of layoffs recently. The company laid off 201 employees, about 4% of the company, in April.
Redfin laid off 862 employees, about 13% of the company, in November when the company shuttered its home-flipping business RedfinNow, in which Redfin buys homes directly from sellers, completes renovations and sells the homes for a profit. The company laid off 470 employees in June of last year.
The company's share price closed Friday at $10.85, down over 24% from Thursday's close of $14.35.
