REA Group Ltd Annual Report 2021

Year in review Directors’ Report Financial Statements Remuneration Report Sustainability Our Leaders 21 Annual Report 2021 | REA Group Ltd New features such as our Loan Tracker and Comparison feature were launched to provide a highly personalised home loan experience. These features are receiving positive consumer engagement and driving more qualified, higher value mortgage leads. Building on this success, the acquisition of Mortgage Choice was an exciting milestone that accelerated our financial services strategy. This transaction strengthens REA’s ability to service 100% of the market, with the Mortgage Choice broker network complementing the existing broker footprint of our Smartline business. REA also acquired a 34.4% strategic investment in Simpology in June 2021, an Australian company focused on increasing the efficiency of the mortgage application process. Simpology’s products enable brokers to seamlessly lodge home-loan applications directly into lenders’ back-end systems. The strategic alliance with Simpology will enable REA to provide consumers with greater choice and simplicity when navigating their home loan options. It will also deliver productivity improvements to REA’s broker network through higher quality loan submissions, resulting in less re-work, faster loan approval times and streamlined business operations. REA’s broker business, combined with the Group’s digital expertise, high intent property seeker and owner audience, and our unique data and insights, provide a formidable combination that will support the delivery of significant long- term growth opportunities. Rental marketplace Expanding our rent offering is also core to REA creating next generation marketplaces. realestate.com.au is the clear number one place for rent with over 21.8 million average monthly visits to the rent section, up 15% YoY. 48 Building on our rent leadership position, our vision is to seamlessly connect property managers, tenants and property owners through innovative products that deliver an enhanced consumer experience. In August 2020 we launched our new self-managed landlord feature to tap into the significant number of investors who privately manage their rental properties. This new feature allows self- managed landlords to either connect with an agency via our site or list their property directly on realestate. com.au . Our objective is to provide renters with access to the most comprehensive view of rental properties. At the same time, we want to drive more property management enquiries to our customers. While still early days, customer and consumer sentiment has been positive towards this new feature. As part of our rent journey, REA also launched our new centralised rental application experience on our self- service platform Ignite, delivering a faster, more efficient process for consumers and agencies. Consumers now provide and have their application information verified once, rather than repeating the process each time they apply through a different agency. This new rental application workflow is fully integrated and consumers can now search, inspect and apply directly through realestate.com.au. We continue to see a significant acceleration in the volume of digital rental applications, up 48% YoY. 49 At the same time, the need for consumers to drive certainty and trust in their rental applications contributed to a 50% YoY 50 increase in tenant verification purchases. 48 Adobe Analytics, average monthly visits to realestate.com.au/rent (Jul 20 - Jun 21). 49 REA internal data for FY21 compared to FY20. 50 REA internal data for FY21 compared to FY20.