Realtor.com® to Open New Opcity Tech Hub in Downtown Austin
The office will house nearly 200 employees and serve as a product and engineering hub for its fast-growing real estate technology platform
AUSTIN, Texas, June 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Realtor.com®, operated by Move, Inc., today announced plans to open a second office in Austin. Its new downtown location will serve as a product and engineering hub for its Opcity business, the real estate technology platform that improves the home buying and selling experience by quickly connecting consumers to a real estate professional who meets their specific needs.
Named a Best Place to Work in 2019 by the Austin Business Journal and by both Inc. Magazine and the Austin American-Statesman in 2018, Opcity expects to move into its second location at 901 E. 6th St. – a 129,444-square-foot creative office building currently under construction, of which it will rent approximately 29,000 square feet – in the fall. It expects to house nearly 200 product, engineering, data science and analytics employees at the new site.
"This new location will give us access to a greater pool of resources and talent that will allow us to remain a leader in real estate innovation. Downtown Austin is a great tech hub and we're excited to be back in the heart of it," said Ben Rubenstein, CEO of Opcity.
The space offers natural light and the ability to tailor the layout to Opcity's specific needs. It is being designed by architectural firm Perkins + Will to mirror other realtor.com® locations. The design will incorporate home-inspired furniture and decor to reinforce realtor.com®'s mission of making buying and selling homes easier and more rewarding. To inspire employees to do their best work, the office will be equipped with a fully stocked kitchenette, meeting and huddle rooms, secure bike racks, a dog park, showers, and more.
The 901 E. 6th location is in close proximity to many restaurants as well as the highway and Metrorail, making it an ideal location and easy commute from anywhere in the city.
Founded in 2015, Opcity is a fast-growing technology platform that uses data science and machine learning to connect home buyers and sellers with a real estate professional that meets their specific needs. Move, Inc. acquired Opcity in October 2018 to serve as the foundation for building a highly personalized, guided experience that helps consumers navigate the complexities of buying and selling a home.
Speaking in an earnings call last month, Move owner News Corp's Chief Executive Robert Thomson said that the acquisition of Opcity represents "an investment in future growth," and noted that "providing higher quality leads to real estate professionals is part of the changing U.S. property market and will result in higher quality returns for realtor.com®."
Real estate revenues at Move rose 14 percent year-over-year as of the third quarter of Fiscal Year 2019, and realtor.com® experienced record traffic in April, up 7 percent from the prior year to over 69 million uniques, leading to 209 million visits. According to April data from Comscore, realtor.com® has a greater number of visits per visitor compared to the competition, with more total views per user across all platforms.
Opcity currently employs approximately 600 consumer experience, sales, marketing, finance and accounting employees at its 6800 Burleson Road headquarters location.
To see a complete list of open positions, visit opcity.com/careers
About Move, Inc.
Move, Inc., a subsidiary of News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV], operates a family of websites and mobile experiences for consumers and real estate professionals through all stages of the home journey. This includes realtor.com®, a leading online real estate destination that pioneered digital real estate more than 20 years ago. Operating under a perpetual license from the National Association of REALTORS®, realtor.com®, offers the most MLS-listed for-sale listings among national real estate portals, and access to information, tools and professional expertise that help people move confidently through every step of their home journey. Through its Opcity platform, realtor.com® uses data science and machine learning to connect consumers with a real estate professional based on their specific buying and selling needs.
For more information, contact:
Lexie Holbert at [email protected]
SOURCE realtor.com
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