Homes.com.au reportedly sold for more than $22 million

According to a report published by the Australian Financial Review (AFR) on June 3, US real estate giant CoStar Group has acquired the domain name Homes.com.au for more than $22 million (A$34 million).

The AFR cited two unnamed people familiar with the matter as saying that the transaction was recently completed and the party was an Australian company founded by real estate developer Pat Carbone in 2018.

Although CoStar has not officially confirmed or publicly filed the transaction, the AFR quoted CoStar CEO Andy Florance as saying that the domain name is a "clear, strong and memorable URL" that indicates its strategic intention to build local brands and enter the market.

If the news is accurate, this will set a record for the highest publicly reported sale price of a third-level domain name and the most expensive .au domain name transaction ever.

In Australia, the .com.au domain is only available to businesses with a verified local presence, and even after the launch of .au direct registration in 2022, it remains the country’s most trusted and widely used business domain.