Housing.com will hire up to 200 staff in fiscal year 2023 as it aims to establish itself as India's leading online real estate marketplace.
The India-based portal, part of Australia's REA Group, will invest heavily in technology and brand promotion after REA India recorded a 92% increase in turnover last year to ₹300 crore ($37 million)—with the majority of the earnings coming from Housing.com.
The workforce will jump from 1500 to 1700 people by the end of fiscal year 2023.
CEO Druv Agarwala attributed the rise in revenue of Housing.com to increased housing demand after the pandemic and outlined the company's efforts to hire aggressively in the company's product, tech and design teams.
He also noted that Housing.com achieved a higher revenue than its closest rival (99acres.com) for the first time in Q2 202 -though he did admit it would be difficult for Housing.com to match last year's performance.
"Last (fiscal) year, we grew our total revenue by 92% and for the first time, on Housing.com, we achieved market leadership in October 2021 and that leadership position has continued."
"We never laid off anybody [during the pandemic]. We, in fact, hired more people. We continued to invest in our product and technology, and also launched a new platform such as Housing Edge, which is doing very well for us."
"I think the residential real estate funnily received a big boost because of Covid. I think people's relationship and equation with a home changed. Everybody realized that during a time like COVID, the home was their only safe haven. That, I think, gives a renewed lease of life to residential real estate."
REA Group acquired a controlling share of Elara Technologie - the holding company behind Housing.com, PropTiger and Makaan.co - in December 2020, and rebranded it under the REA name in September 2021.