News Corp - NWS STOCK NEWS

Texas leads the nation in new house construction, issuing 15% of U.S. building permits in 2024 despite having only 9% of the population, according to a new Realtor.com® report. The state attracts residents primarily due to affordable housing, favorable climate, and job opportunities, with more than 1 in 4 home shoppers coming from out of state, particularly from California and international locations.

The median listing price in Texas was $360,000 in December 2024, approximately $40,000 below the national median. The state has focused on building smaller, more affordable homes, with the median new construction size decreasing 5.3% to 2,073 square feet since 2020. Nearly half (47.5%) of Texas's for-sale inventory was priced at $350,000 or below, compared to 40.1% nationally.

Among major Texas metros, San Antonio leads in affordable housing availability, followed by Houston, Dallas, and Austin. Despite improvements in inventory levels reaching pre-pandemic numbers, affordability remains a challenge, with only 17% of for-sale inventory being affordable to the 51% of Texans who earn less than $75,000 annually.

Realtor.com®, a News Corp subsidiary, announced the relocation of its corporate headquarters from Santa Clara, California to Austin, Texas. The company has designated Austin as its primary hiring location, committing to long-term growth in Texas through talent development and office expansion.

The decision aligns with Texas's robust real estate market growth. According to a new Realtor.com® report, Texas is the fastest-growing state, projected to surpass California as the most populous state by 2045. The report highlights Texas's leadership in housing development, accounting for 15% of U.S. permitted housing units in 2024, exceeding its 9% population share.

The move is attributed to Texas's strong talent pool, growing economy, housing affordability, tech community, and business-friendly environment, including no corporate or personal income taxes. The company has already established a presence in Austin through hiring initiatives, community engagement, and an internship program.

News (NWS) reported strong financial results for Q2 FY2025, with revenues increasing 5% to $2.24 billion compared to $2.14 billion in the prior year. Net income from continuing operations surged 58% to $306 million, while Total Segment EBITDA rose 20% to $478 million.

Key highlights include record revenues at REA Group ($343 million, up 17%) and Dow Jones ($600 million), with the latter driven by improved circulation and professional information business revenues. Book Publishing revenues grew 8%, while Segment EBITDA increased 19%. The company announced the sale of Foxtel to DAZN for an A$3.4 billion enterprise value.

Digital performance remained strong, with Dow Jones digital revenues representing 81% of total revenues. The Wall Street Journal's digital-only subscriptions grew 7% to nearly 3.8 million. The company declared a semi-annual cash dividend of $0.10 per share.

New York-based medical aesthetic clinic IT Intelligent Treatment unveiled SomaCell™, a groundbreaking innovation in non-surgical facelifts, at a launch event ahead of NY Fashion Week. The event, hosted by Page Six's Elana Fishman, showcased SomaCell™ to media and influencers. This novel treatment offers pain-free, non-surgical facial regeneration, restoring facial contours without causing dermal damage. According to Kim Laudati, Founder and President, SomaCell™ is effective for patients of all adult ages, genders, and ethnicities, providing excellent results without downtime. The event included a Q&A session led by Elana Fishman, discussing the technological advancements SomaCell™ brings to skincare. For further information, please contact James Lambert, Vice President at Rubenstein Public Relations.

January 2025 housing market shows increased seller activity with newly listed homes growing 37.5% month-over-month and 10.8% year-over-year. The median listing price decreased 2.2% to $400,500 compared to January 2024. Active listings increased 24.6% compared to last year, marking the 15th straight month of inventory growth.

Notable market trends include: Sacramento (+31.7%), Phoenix (+27.3%), and Seattle (+24.7%) saw the highest increases in new listings. Price reductions increased to 15.6% of listings, up from 14.7% last year, with Florida markets showing significant price cuts. The South and West regions led inventory growth at 31.0% and 27.2% respectively, while Denver (+54.8%), Las Vegas (+49.4%), and Tucson (+45.0%) experienced the highest inventory increases.

News Corp (NWS) has announced it will release its second quarter Fiscal 2025 earnings results on Wednesday, February 5, 2025. CEO Robert Thomson and CFO Lavanya Chandrashekar will host a live audio webcast at 5:00 p.m. EST (9:00 a.m. AEDT on February 6 in Sydney) to discuss the results.

The earnings release will be available on the company's investor relations website before the call. Investors can register for the webcast through a dedicated link, and a replay will be accessible shortly after the call concludes.

Realtor.com's December Rental Report shows that rents declined for the 17th consecutive month, dropping -1.1% year-over-year to a median of $1,695. This marks the first time since April 2022 that the national median asking rent fell below $1,700.

The rental market is showing signs of balance as the nationwide absorption rate fell to 55%, matching 2019 levels. While overall inflation has increased 22.8% since 2019, rents have only risen 16%. The Northeast region maintains the highest absorption rates, increasing from 58% to 67%, while the West saw the largest decline, dropping from 72% to 58%.

Notable market changes include significant rent decreases in Memphis (-6.7%), Denver (-5.9%), and Austin (-5.0%). However, affordable rentals continue to show stronger demand with a 56.3% absorption rate compared to 53.8% for pricier units.

Dow Jones has announced the launch of The WSJ Leadership Institute, a new executive learning and leadership program aimed at top-tier business leaders. Led by president Alan Murray, the initiative builds upon existing WSJ membership communities and introduces several new offerings:

Key features include: a daily WSJ CEO Brief newsletter launching February 3; the exclusive WSJ CEO Council: Titans for CEOs of $10B+ revenue companies; WSJ Executive Fellows program with mentorship opportunities through The Onyx Group partnership; and the WSJ Top Directors Council for board members of $1B+ revenue companies launching in 2024. A new community for next-generation C-Suite leaders is planned for early 2026.

The institute aims to leverage Dow Jones and Wall Street Journal's resources to help leaders navigate through periods of change and uncertainty, offering exclusive events, programming, and peer-networking opportunities.

Realtor.com reports a significant rise in Homeowners Association (HOA) fees, adding to housing affordability challenges. The study reveals that 40.5% of for-sale listings in 2024 had HOA fees, up from 39.2% in 2023, with median fees increasing to $125/month from $110.

New construction homes show a higher likelihood of HOA fees at 69.9% compared to 37.1% for existing homes. Similarly, 83.8% of condos, rowhomes, and townhomes have HOA dues versus 33.6% of single-family homes.

The top three metros with highest HOA presence are Edwards, Colorado (89.9%, $525 median monthly fee), Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (84.8%, $138), and Heber, Utah (83.3%, $300). Conversely, areas with lowest HOA presence include Anniston, Alabama (3.8%, $29) and Elizabethtown, Kentucky (5.0%, $19), typically in smaller, inland markets with fewer new builds.