The online real estate listings portal's shares fell from $3.32 on Friday to an all-time low of $2.77 on Monday after Mr Catalano announced he would resign citing family reasons. On Tuesday it rebounded more than 9 per cent to close at exactly $3.

Fairfax Media shares also rallied 4.62 per cent to 68 cents after falling as low as 64 cents on Monday. Fairfax, the publisher of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, owns 60 per cent of Domain's shares since the real estate listings company separated in November.

The message from analysts was mixed, with some bullish on buying after the price drop.

UBS analyst Eric Choi told investors on Monday said the "uncertainty looks more than priced in" and moved from a sell to a buy rating.

Real estate franchise Starr Partners chief executive Doug Driscoll was also bullish on the future of Domain, saying he empathised with Mr Catalano's family situation despite the "odd" timing.

"Mr Catalano and Domain really are a victim of his success," he said.

"He has made himself high-profile, which is good when he's at the helm but not so good when he stands down."

He expected there would still be growth for Domain, with few competitors in the space outside of rival REA Group.

"Does the market really think the business is that reliant on one person? As good as he is, of course it's not.

"When I read [the shares were down] I thought about buying shares in Domain. I saw it as an opportunity. I honestly thought about mobilising funds."

It's understood some minor shareholders, including real estate agents, chose not to sell post-announcement citing a strong management team even without Mr Catalano at the helm.

Gerald Delany, chairman of Melbourne real estate agency Kay & Burton, was on the foundation board of Domain-forerunner Metro Media Publishing with Mr Catalano.

He said he was surprised by the chief executive's departure but also the reaction from Fairfax Media whose announcement did not thank Mr Catalano for his contribution.

''I was surprised I have to say although I think he was getting a bit jack of travelling,'' he said.

''I also noticed there was no [acknowledgement of Mr Catalano] made by the company when he left which surprised me a bit because he played a pretty big part in the establishment of that Domain offshoot, which was a pretty great achievement.''

Despite not having spoken to Mr Catalano, Mr Delany said he doubted the travel was the "real reason'' for the departure.

''He is a bit of a character, he has got a big family, it has been a drain because he didn't want to move to Sydney, maybe to some degree he has achieved what he set out to achieve and now he has done it, I don't think he is an ongoing managerial type of character,'' he said.

Mr Delany's business is one of a number of agents which participates in a revenue sharing model with Domain and he said nothing would change from that point of view.

He believed Domain director Greg Ellis could be a good successor for Mr Catalano.

''He would the be the right bloke. He would be the frontrunner," he said.

Mr Catalano is well known for his contacts in the real estate scene, particularly among highly regarded Melbourne agencies, and replacing these relationships was a concern raised by several market analysts in updates to investors.

Morgans analyst Ivor Ries flagged difficulties "for the company to find a leader with Mr Catalano's combination of industry knowledge, confidence and close personal relationships with many of the owners of the nation's realtor franchise groups".

A note from Macquarie Wealth Management said the relationship dynamic with agents would change. It pointed out there was "no indication" from Domain that Mr Catalano would remain in any formal consultancy role.

One senior property source said agents would support Domain in Sydney as it was the top site and in Melbourne agents would not want to be left without an effective competitor to REA.