Competition watchdog launches probe into REA real estate pricing
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has been quietly meeting with real estate agents and industry bodies over the past few weeks, asking whether they have feedback or issues with the $34 billion, ASX-listed company.

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News.com.au
44 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Stock Tips: One expert makes a Sigma call, Aussie Broadband connects with another
It's no easy gig analysing share prices and company performance but somebody's got to do it. Every week two experts from our Share Tips columnist pool give us their recommendations. Toby Grimm – Baker Young Limited BUY Sigma Healthcare (ASX:SIG) Sigma's merger with Chemist Warehouse created Australia's dominant vertically integrated pharmacy group with a high growth outlook given our ageing population and wellness trends. Pinnacle Investment (ASX:PNI) Pinnacle should benefit significantly from the market's rally back to all-time highs with base and performance fees likely to exceed recently downgraded expectations. HOLD South32 (ASX:S32) The company's quarterly production update showed encouraging operational performance, and we note the Hermosa project in the US could be a tier one asset given supportive US critical mineral security policy. Woodside Energy Group (ASX:WDS) Alongside a relatively impressive quarterly output report, Woodside has confirmed key development projects are on track reducing risk and improving free cash flow available for distributions. SELL AMP (ASX:AMP) Recent share price appreciation underestimates continued competitive challenges and continuing investment needs. Combined with sub-optimal bank operations we see risks of setbacks and would be exiting. Helia Group (ASX:HLI) The loss of Commonwealth Bank and potentially ING mortgage insurance contracts (combined worth more than half the business' premiums in 2024) underscores a lack of competitive advantage and growth. Tony Paterno – Ord Minnett BUY Aussie Broadband (ASX:ABB) Remains well placed to grow market share as consumers trend to higher speed tiers and the NBN's fibre upgrade program rolls out. ARB Corporation (ASX:ARB) Australian new vehicles sales increased by 2.4% in Jun-25. ARB's key vehicle sales increased 15.0% in June, with the SUV and LCV market both lifting. HOLD Bapcor (ASX:BAP) After the recent strategy day, the company's key messages are on business simplification, continuing cost initiatives and improving retail operations. It expects operational improvements following headcount reductions and warehouse consolidation. Brickworks (ASX:BKW) Demand for BKW's Industrial property developments remain solid, with further growth in rental income expected. In Australia, recent rate cuts are expected to translate into improved housing activity late in 2025. SELL Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN) EVN delivered a slightly softer quarter result (higher capex), whilst the outlook showed higher costs. Trading expensive at these levels. Lynas (ASX:LYC) We believe the optimistic LYC share price rise since the MP Materials & DoD deal is misplaced. We don't believe they will benefit and the US has gone all-in on its domestic producer.

Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
The Gen Z billionaires who are bored with business
The family that ran India's largest luggage maker for more than half a century is packing it in, with control of Mumbai-based VIP Industries passing to private equity. 'What do I do?' chairman Dilip Piramal, 75, wondered aloud in a TV interview after announcing the sale. 'The younger generation is not interested in management.' Piramal isn't the only ageing businessperson to have run out of successors. 'Today among the scions of some of the most affluent families of India, someone is an artist, someone wants to be a sportsman, someone wants to run a small restaurant. There's nothing wrong in that. It's the modern trend, people want to do their own things,' he said. Two hundred years ago, that 'modern' trend among young people used to be enterprise. That's when families like Piramal's began to spread out of the Marwar region in land-locked northern India to take advantage of British-controlled trading opportunities in the port cities of Bombay and Calcutta – now Mumbai and Kolkata. Cotton, jute and opium sold to China provided the seed capital to the Marwari business community for everything from textile mills to cement factories. By the early 20th century, these emerging industrial empires were large enough to challenge the colonial masters and their commercial interests. The likes of Ghanshyam Das Birla openly supported Mahatma Gandhi's campaign for independence, even as they outran rivals like Andrew Yule & Co. The Birla House in Delhi, a prominent hub for the freedom movement, was also where Gandhi was assassinated. As the sway of family firms continued after India's 1947 independence, it was believed that newer generations would always be available to take over the reins. Below the surface, however, the link between ownership and management has been weakening for some time. Piramal's daughter, Radhika, a Harvard University MBA, was the chief executive officer for a few years before quitting in 2017 and relocating with her spouse to London. Her same-sex marriage is not legally recognised in India. The luggage maker was back to being in the care of professional managers, a double-edged sword considering that a rival firm set up by a former managing director is now three-fifths bigger than VIP by market value. The heirs of prominent business families – Millennial and Gen Z billionaires – are setting their own life goals. It's the sensible thing to do. In a labour-surplus economy, access to capital through clan networks and strategic marital alliances was family-run firms' core advantage. But via public markets and private equity, finance is now available to a much wider section of entrepreneurs. Risk-taking has been democratised. That frees up younger members of business dynasties to try new things. Someone recently asked the singer-songwriter Ananya Birla on social media if she was from the family behind India's largest-selling cement brand. She is indeed the great-great-granddaughter of Ghanshyam Das Birla. But from financial inclusion among rural women to a recently launched beauty brand, the 31-year-old Oxford graduate has her own interests that are independent of the sprawling commodities behemoth led by her father.

The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
The Gen Z billionaires who are bored with business
The family that ran India's largest luggage maker for more than half a century is packing it in, with control of Mumbai-based VIP Industries passing to private equity. 'What do I do?' chairman Dilip Piramal, 75, wondered aloud in a TV interview after announcing the sale. 'The younger generation is not interested in management.' Piramal isn't the only ageing businessperson to have run out of successors. 'Today among the scions of some of the most affluent families of India, someone is an artist, someone wants to be a sportsman, someone wants to run a small restaurant. There's nothing wrong in that. It's the modern trend, people want to do their own things,' he said. Two hundred years ago, that 'modern' trend among young people used to be enterprise. That's when families like Piramal's began to spread out of the Marwar region in land-locked northern India to take advantage of British-controlled trading opportunities in the port cities of Bombay and Calcutta – now Mumbai and Kolkata. Cotton, jute and opium sold to China provided the seed capital to the Marwari business community for everything from textile mills to cement factories. By the early 20th century, these emerging industrial empires were large enough to challenge the colonial masters and their commercial interests. The likes of Ghanshyam Das Birla openly supported Mahatma Gandhi's campaign for independence, even as they outran rivals like Andrew Yule & Co. The Birla House in Delhi, a prominent hub for the freedom movement, was also where Gandhi was assassinated. As the sway of family firms continued after India's 1947 independence, it was believed that newer generations would always be available to take over the reins. Below the surface, however, the link between ownership and management has been weakening for some time. Piramal's daughter, Radhika, a Harvard University MBA, was the chief executive officer for a few years before quitting in 2017 and relocating with her spouse to London. Her same-sex marriage is not legally recognised in India. The luggage maker was back to being in the care of professional managers, a double-edged sword considering that a rival firm set up by a former managing director is now three-fifths bigger than VIP by market value. The heirs of prominent business families – Millennial and Gen Z billionaires – are setting their own life goals. It's the sensible thing to do. In a labour-surplus economy, access to capital through clan networks and strategic marital alliances was family-run firms' core advantage. But via public markets and private equity, finance is now available to a much wider section of entrepreneurs. Risk-taking has been democratised. That frees up younger members of business dynasties to try new things. Someone recently asked the singer-songwriter Ananya Birla on social media if she was from the family behind India's largest-selling cement brand. She is indeed the great-great-granddaughter of Ghanshyam Das Birla. But from financial inclusion among rural women to a recently launched beauty brand, the 31-year-old Oxford graduate has her own interests that are independent of the sprawling commodities behemoth led by her father.