Real Estate

Platform Innovation and Development

In 2025, the Real Estate business unit continued to advance development of its platforms, further enhancing experiences for seekers and professional customers while improving internal tools and capabilities. All real estate platforms are now operated in the cloud, with the main brands built natively for the cloud. This lays a strong foundation for scalable deployment of AI at scale.

On the consumer side, personalisation and new, engaging functionality in the mobile app like flexible draw of search area on the map, advanced search filters or Swiss German support enhanced core platforms. Seeker experiences were enriched with context-aware features such as points of interest, commute times, and selective listing visibility, driving higher engagement. Mobile applications continued to strengthen user experience and received external recognition for user experience, engagement, and design at the Best of Swiss Apps awards. The reporting year also saw the successful launch of Priority+ on Flatfox, which reached more than 6,000 subscribers within six months, demonstrating the business unit’s capacity for creating and scaling paid consumer offerings to establish meaningful recurring revenue streams.

The business unit further improved its value proposition for professional customers. Consistent with its long-term ambition of supporting the digital transformation of the Real Estate ecosystem, Flatfox’s software-as-a-service solution and marketplace were further integrated into upper-tier professional packages. Combined with simplified login processes and unified access to the Real Estate portfolio of tools and data services, including Casasoft, Flatfox, and IAZI, this created a more seamless end-to-end experience for agents. The extension of IAZI’s rental valuation service further enhanced the breadth and depth of the professional product suite.

The introduction of AI-powered next-best-action recommendations within the Insights Hub enabled agents to better optimise listing performance and communicate value, with strong early adoption in both paid and unpaid actions. Visibility+ capabilities further supported agents in showcasing their brands and expertise through enriched profiles, media, and sales histories, including reference listings. This allowed agencies to showcase sold properties on their profiles and in search results, demonstrating success and directly contributing to mandate acquisition.

The value of enhanced agent profiles was further strengthened through the introduction of a new paid placement product, Regional Highlights. This feature allows agencies to book exclusive visibility slots at the district level, enabling them to stand out in search results and reinforce their local market presence. Many of these innovations were delivered to selected customers in 2025 and will be expanded to additional customers through appropriate packages in 2026. At the same time, CasaLead expanded seller lead generation, onboarding more than 100 customers within a short period and becoming an important means of digitalising the top of the agent funnel and omnichannel mandate acquisition. AI capabilities progressed from experimentation to tangible value creation across products.

Automated AI-based listing descriptions, enriched with images, points of interest, and IAZI data, were adopted in approximately 25% of new listings, improving content quality and operational efficiency. These developments marked a clear shift towards AI as an embedded capability across core workflows rather than a standalone feature.

In the broader value chain, Real Estate made its platform more robust and boosted business-to-business (B2B) integration. The implementation of SEON (an AI-driven fraud prevention platform) and multi-factor authentication (MFA) has significantly strengthened site security, with approximately 95% MFA enforcement among business customers. In addition, deeper software-as-a-service integrations, including connectivity between Flatfox, Unified Business Manager and pay-per-ad, improved digital workflows, provided additional upselling opportunities and reinforced the ecosystem approach. As well as scaling platform capabilities and AI-driven innovation, the business unit continued to prioritise execution discipline and capital efficiency.

Capital Expenditure

in CHF million, capex in % of revenue

Capital expenditure declined year-on-year by 2.4% to CHF 15.4 million and capital intensity improved from 10.8% to 9.4%, primarily driven by the completion of planned re-platforming initiatives.

Capital expenditure included the acquisition of the Swiss lead-generation business of immoverkauf24 GmbH, Germany, in the amount of CHF 0.6 million. Excluding this acquisition, capital expenditure as a percentage of revenue would have declined to 9.0%, representing a year-on-year improvement of 1.8 percentage points.

Business Performance

In 2025, the Real Estate business unit increased revenue by 12.5% to CHF 164.1 million. This strong double-digit revenue growth was driven by broad-based momentum across most product lines and reflects a continued increase in customer retention and the performance and value delivered to subscribers. The business unit continued to invest selectively in product innovation, sales capabilities, and the overall customer experience to support sustainable growth.

Revenue Development by Revenue Stream

in CHF million, growth in %

Adjusted EBITDA

in CHF million, margin in %

The Adjusted EBITDA margin improved significantly to reach 60.3%, reflecting the scalable nature of the business model, which allows incremental revenue to convert at a high contribution margin.

Further improvements resulted from streamlined sales and support processes along with deeper platform and product integration – particularly through Flatfox – and reduced operating costs through elimination of system duplication. The Adjusted EBITDA also benefited from continued simplification and efficiency gains within central support functions. As a result, the cost share allocated to the Real Estate business unit declined relative to revenue in 2025 compared with the prior year.

Professional Classified Revenue

SMG’s subscription-based marketplace products are designed to simplify daily workflows, enhance visibility, and support sustainable business growth. Professional classifieds revenue comprises listing subscriptions, seller mandates, and add-on products such as Top Listings, Regional Highlights and Neubau Premium. In 2025, revenue increased from CHF 84.6 million to CHF 93.6 million, representing year-on-year growth of 10.6%.

Professional classifieds revenue development is driven by the number of agents and average revenue per agent (ARPA).

Monthly Average Number of Agents

in numbers, growth in %

Monthly Average Revenue per Agent

in numbers, growth in %

To better address the needs of agents with very small inventories, the Real Estate business unit tested a flexible hybrid subscription model, combining a monthly base fee with a pay-per-ad component. Together with targeted win-back and retention initiatives, this helped increase the number of active agents, which reached 4,008 at year-end. Growth was particularly pronounced in the second half of the year, when the number of active agents increased by 4.7%, recovering from a mid-year tally of 3,828.

ARPA growth was supported by a combination of product, platform, and pricing initiatives aimed at strengthening customer value and monetisation. Customer benefited from continuous improvements in product performance and ad visibility, while the introduction of AI-generated listing descriptions in all subscription packages further enhanced listing quality and operational efficiency.

A further driver of ARPA development was the launch of the “expert” package – the fourth and most comprehensive subscription tier, which offers enhanced visibility and performance as well as additional solutions designed to support agents acquire new mandates. In parallel, the business unit strengthened its commercial excellence capabilities and deepened relationships with agents. Among the investments in the financial year was a new internal sales team which expanded consulting capacity for the entire customer base, including smaller and longer-tail agents.

Other Classified Revenue

SMG’s flexible, usage-based products simplify access to the marketplace for occasional advertisers and active seekers and comprise listings sold under a pay-per-ad model, primarily from private sellers and landlords, as well as seeker products, including TenantPlus+ and Flatfox Priority+.

SMG’s flexible, usage-based products simplify access to the marketplace for occasional advertisers and active seekers. They include pay-per-ad listings, primarily used by private sellers and landlords, as well as seeker offerings such as TenantPlus+ and Flatfox Priority+.

In 2025, other classifieds revenue increased by 17.6% to CHF 42.2 million, driven by growth in pay-per-ad and the continued momentum of seeker products. While the monthly average number of listings remained broadly stable, average monthly revenue per listing increased by 21.8% to CHF 480, supported by enhanced product capabilities such as improved performance analytics and AI-powered listing creation.

Monthly Average Pay-per-Ad Listings

in numbers, growth in %

Monthly Average Revenue per Listing

in CHF, growth in %

Monthly Subscribers Seeker Products

in numbers

Strong rental demand further accelerated adoption of premium seeker products, expanding the subscriber base. These offerings provide prospective tenants with access to exclusive listings and value-added services, including demand insights, credit checks, and moving-related benefits, while enabling landlords to connect with highly motivated applicants. TenantPlus+, which is available to home-hunters on Homegate and ImmoScout24, continued to gain traction. June 2025 saw the launch of a similar offering on Flatfox – Priority+.

Service and Other Revenue

SMG’s digital tools, including CRM and rating products, are designed to simplify customer workflows, improve transparency, and boost engagement. IAZI continued to grow its business by acquiring new clients, particularly among institutional real estate investors, and by increasing its share of wallet with financial institutions. Key growth drivers included valuation services with a focus on recurring portfolio valuations, mandates for institutional investors, and recurring revenues from bank portfolio valuations, including sustainability-related assessments such as CO₂reduction pathways. This revenue stream is complemented by selected consumer services, such as moving assistance and lead generation for financial services.