Real estate site Redfin up 11% on stock market day two

Redfin, the Seattle-based real estate site, had a great first couple days on the stock market.

After pricing above the expected range at $15 per share, the stock closed Friday up about 45% at almost $22. Today, shares were up another 11%, closing above $24.

With a market cap approaching $2 billion, it’s more than double than the $770 million valuation that Redfin achieved in its last private round.

But CEO Glenn Kelman is keeping expectations in check. In an interview with TechCrunch on Friday, he quipped that the strong first day was “better than going down,” but admitted that there wasn’t enough volume and that a small float could be why shares went up.

Redfin makes money by taking a cut of the home sales facilitated by its site. The company saw growing revenue and shrinking losses, until earlier this year when it started the cost intensive business of originating mortgages.

Ultimately, Kelman says he wants Redfin to be the “Amazon of real estate,” where people can go to for all things home ownership.

Founded in 2004, Redfin raised over $167 million in funding. Greylock Partners and Madrona Ventures were the largest shareholders leading into the IPO.

Redfin isn’t the first Seattle-based real estate site to IPO. Zillow went public in 2011 and later purchased Trulia.

 

 

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