CoStar acquires Zonda for $800 million to finalize its real estate data empire.

      **TL;DR** CoStar Group is set to acquire Zonda, a leading platform for new-home construction data and marketplace, for $800 million in cash. This acquisition completes CoStar's extensive real estate data portfolio, which includes commercial, multifamily, residential resale, and spatial data, amassed through over 40 acquisitions worth $7.3 billion.

      CoStar Group has agreed to purchase Zonda, the top provider of data on new-home construction, homebuilder software, and residential real estate marketplaces, for $800 million in cash. The transaction, announced on Thursday, is anticipated to finalize in the latter half of 2026 and will positively impact adjusted earnings per share in its first full year.

      Zonda supports more than 3,000 clients in the homebuilding industry, including some of North America's largest residential builders, developers, suppliers, and lenders. Its platform encompasses the entire lifecycle of new-home development, from land acquisition and construction forecasts to community marketing and online marketplaces, monitoring over 500 housing metrics.

      **Addressing the New-Construction Gap**

      For the last 15 years, CoStar has been building one of the most extensive real estate information platforms globally. CoStar Suite leads in commercial real estate research. Like other data platforms consolidating their sectors, the company has grown deliberately through acquisitions, completing over 40 transactions totaling around $7.3 billion during this time.

      Apartments.com currently generates $1.1 billion in yearly revenue. Homes.com, CoStar’s residential brokerage marketplace, has seen a 337% growth in subscribers since the first quarter of 2024 and claims to be the second-largest and fastest-growing residential real estate marketplace in the U.S. CoStar finalized its acquisition of Matterport, a company specializing in 3D digital twins and AI, for $1.6 billion in February 2025.

      The trend is evident. CoStar has addressed the commercial real estate sector through its main product, multifamily rentals through Apartments.com, residential resale via Homes.com and Matterport, and the physical built environment through Matterport’s spatial data. New-home construction was the last missing piece, which Zonda now fulfills.

      **What Zonda Does**

      Zonda was established following a 2018 merger between Hanley Wood, a B2B information services entity for the U.S. residential construction sector, and Meyers Research, a provider of real-time market data for homebuilders. The merger was arranged by private equity firm MidOcean Partners, which rebranded it as Zonda in 2020. The $800 million deal with CoStar is typical of private equity exits in the SaaS and data platform space, where specialized data companies are developed through consolidations and sold to larger platforms.

      Zonda's primary offerings include subscription-based data and insights for the new-home market, online marketplaces for new properties in the U.S. and Canada, and a suite of software tools for virtual home assessments, including visualization, customization, and tours. The data component tracks various aspects, including lot availability, permit activity, and pricing trends at the community level.

      **CoStar's Financial Position**

      CoStar reported $897 million in revenue for the first quarter of 2026, reflecting a 23% increase year over year, and anticipates full-year revenue of $3.8 billion, an 18% rise from 2025. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be $770 million, marking an 83% gain from 2025 and a 20% margin. The company is financially equipped to handle the $800 million cash transaction without significant difficulty.

      However, the stock performance has not mirrored the operational progress. CoStar shares have fallen about 49% over the past six months, influenced by substantial investment spending on Homes.com and general market skepticism regarding the timeline to profitability for its residential division. CEO Andy Florance has been purchasing shares on the open market, acquiring over 70,000 shares at prices ranging from $34.67 to $36.00 earlier this year.

      **Concerns About Data Monopoly**

      With Zonda in its portfolio, CoStar will hold prominent or leading data positions in virtually every major segment of the U.S. real estate market. Proptech startups developing AI-driven tools for real estate development, valuation, or investment will increasingly find their required data coming from CoStar’s holdings.

      This consolidation mirrors trends seen in other data-platform markets. A single operator controlling the essential data for a sector can dictate pricing, influence how players view their markets, and create switching costs that solidify its standing. CoStar's proposition is that integration fosters value: homebuilders utilizing Zonda data will be capable of listing on Homes.com, monitoring competitor pricing through CoStar analytics, and targeting renters via Apartments.com, all within one framework.

      Whether this integration yields genuine value or merely consolidates pricing power will depend on the execution. For now, CoStar has invested $800 million to ensure that the next