US holiday rental group buys realholidays.com.au from REA Group

US holiday rental group HomeAway hopes to grab first position in the Australian market after picking up more than 20,000 listings through the purchase of REA Group’s local holiday rental brand, realholidays.com.au for an undisclosed amount.

HomeAway, a six-year-old company headquartered in Texas, will redirect the realholidays.com.au properties to its homeaway.com.au site.

James Cassidy, recently appointed general manager of HomeAway Australia and a former REA Group manager, told SmartCompany the local business was already talking with its Texan parent about opportunities in the Asia-Pacific after eyeing off the Australian market for years.

“Asia-Pacific is one of the final regions [for HomeAway], and Australia is seen as the biggest market in this region,” Cassidy says.

Cassidy puts the number of holiday rental properties that are currently listed on Australian sites at between 50,000 and 60,000.

He adds while HomeAway already has Australian listings on its overseas sites, the REA deal will allow it to target Australian domestic travellers, Australians heading overseas – enticed by the strength of the Australian dollar – and international visitors to Australia.

Cassidy says now was an “excellent time” to expand HomeAway’s Australian footprint, despite the strength of the Australian dollar and the fact consolidation in the sector is already going on.

Last month, Fairfax Media bought online holiday rental and corporate accommodation business Occupancy Pty Ltd for $29.1 million, which operates rentahome.com.au, and takeabreak.com.au sites.

Interestingly, HomeAway’s Australian business sees its primary competition as hotels, rather than rival holiday rental sites.

“Of course there are other holiday rental websites, but we like to define our market a little bit differently,” Cassidy says.

The deal, the terms of which have not been disclosed, might lead to growth in Home Inc’s Australian office, with Cassidy saying there could be room for 12 more people within 18 months.

REA Group CEO Greg Ellis said its focus on residential and commercial property sites left the realholidays.com.au better suited to a specialist holiday rental company.

HomeAway claims market leadership in North America, Latin America and America. It was started by internet entrepreneurs Carl Shepherd and Brian Sharples, and says its 2010 revenue was $US167.9 million.