Following a lawsuit by Domain over a marketing campaign, REA Group has been ordered to provide evidence that proves that “nine in 10 buyers” find a home on the platform.
REA Group will have to produce its communications with Deloitte to back its claim that it helps “nine-in-10 buyers find the one”, as its legal battle with rival portal Domain intensifies.
The country’s two main real estate platforms have been in legal battle since May, after Domain sued REA Group over its new marketing campaign, calling it misleading and deceptive.
In April, REA claimed that it attracts and engages buyers for nine in 10 properties listed for sale on the platform.
The group said the data came from its Buyer Impact Model, built by REA Group’s property data business, PropTrack, and assessed more than 1.3 million Australian properties sold between August 2023 and November 2025.
The group said the AI model analysed billions of consumer interactions with listings and property pages on realestate.com.au and property.com.au, then overlaid them with national sales data to confirm which properties sold.
“The AI-powered model and the findings were reviewed and validated by Deloitte, marking the first independently verified property buyer impact claim of its kind in the Australian market,” REA said.
An REA spokesperson told REB that the claims were based on analysis of 1 million sales over 28 months, including over 200,000 properties claimed and tracked by owners, and over 10 billion consumer data points.
"REA Group stands by the claims that realestate.com.au attracts the buyer for 9 in 10 listed homes that sell on the platform, and we help 9 in 10 buyers find the one across homes listed and sold on realestate.com.au."
In May, the company ran the claims on billboards at the Gold Coast Airport during the AREC conference, which about 4,500 real estate agents attended.
This year, Domain was AREC’s major sponsor partner.
Domain argued that the AI model was wrong and that the claim was misleading or deceptive.
It said REA’s numbers were misleading and would damage the business; if true, they would suggest Domain helped fewer than one in 10 buyers.
In documents provided to the media, Federal Court Justice Michael Wigney approved Domain’s request to access REA’s correspondence with Deloitte, including draft report annotations and discussions about the accuracy of statements in the final version.
Justice Wigney also ordered REA to hand over the model Deloitte used to analyse the report’s data.
REA said the model excluded unsold listings and viewing activity on third-party platforms.
"Buyers may also have viewed their property on other sites prior to purchasing," REA said.
In parallel, REA lodged a cross-claim, arguing that Domain misled the market with its Matterport 3D photography drone aerial imagery earlier this year.
REA said Domain’s claims that its Matterport Suite listings receive 5.5 times more views and 4.2 times more buyer enquiries than comparable listings were misrepresentative.
"These claims are based on a tiny sample of listings that were given disproportionate national exposure across the Domain homepage earlier this year," the REA spokesperson said.
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