Freddie
Mac‘s
chief
financial
officer,
Christian
Lown,
will
transition
to
the
same
position
at


CoStar
Group
on
July
1,
the
company
announced
on
Tuesday. 

Lown
informed
Freddie
Mac
of
his

resignation
on
June
5
after
four
years
working
for
the
enterprise.
His
exit
will
take
effect
on
June
28.
In
the
meantime,
the
enterprise
has
started
the
process
to
identify
a
successor. 

Before
joining
Freddie
Mac,
Lown
was
the
chief
financial
officer
of

Navient
Corp.,
a
student
loan
servicer
he
joined
in
2003.
He
was
also
a
managing
director
for
the
financial
institutions
group
at

Morgan
Stanley.

At
CoStar,
Lown
will
report
directly
to
founder
and
CEO
Andy
Florance.
He
will
be
responsible
for
the
company’s
financial
functions
—
including
accounting,
financial
planning,
internal
controls,
compliance,
treasury,
investor
relations,
tax
and
corporate
facilities.

“He
brings
an
unparalleled
understanding
of
M&A,
capital
markets
and
corporate
finance
and,
through
his
time
at
Freddie
Mac,
an
intricate
knowledge
of
the
home
buying
market
at
a
time
when
our

Homes.com
platform
is
experiencing
exponential
growth,”
Florance
said
in
a
prepared
statement.

Lown
said
in
a
statement
that
he
has
held
CoStar
Group
in
“high
esteem”
for
its
trajectory
from
“startup
to
market
leader
in
commercial
real
estate
data
and
online
real
estate
marketplaces.”

Lown
will
join
a
company
that
reported
strong
revenues
of
$656
million
in
the

first
quarter
of
2024,
a
12%
increase
from
the
$584
million
figure
it
posted
in
the
first
quarter
of
2023.
But
the
company
posted
a
net
profit
of
only
$7
million,
significantly
less
than
in
previous
quarters. 

The
profitability
decline
was
attributed,
among
other
things,
to
the

acquisition
of
3D
scanning
company

Matterport
and
costs
related
to
the

Homes.com

marketing
campaign
during
February’s
Super
Bowl
LVIII
broadcast.

CoStar
believes
its
business
model
will
succeed,
given
the
recent

commission
lawsuit
settlement
by
the

National
Association
of
Realtors.
Homes.com
focuses
on
selling
homes
and
building
brands
for
agents
and
brokerage
firms.

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