A war of grass is exploding in the residential real estate industry, with the most important names, including compass, redfin, zillow and homes.com, falling into two more and more stratified camps when it comes to the so -called “pocket listings”.
These listings are houses for sale that are shown in private to select groups before going to the general public.
The stock market houses and real estate portals on one side believe that private lists are beneficial because they offer privacy and control of vendors, as well as the opportunity to test the waters in aspects of a sale of homes such as staging and price. Those on the other side believe that they make the market less fair, and can also reduce sales prices by reducing competition.
All stock market houses agree that the listings are precious currency. There are more real estate agents in the United States than houses for sale, and the more listed they can show a potential buyer, the more likely they will close an agreement and collect a commission.
On Friday, Compass sued a Seattle -based listing database in a federal court, accusing it of “monopolistic” and “anti -competitive” behavior that, according to him, has damaged both the reputation and the reputation of Compass.
The database, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, refused earlier this month to allow any of its listings in the Seattle region to appear on the compass.com website. Northwest MLS reversed his position a day later, but continues to impose a rule that requires the stock market houses to enter housing in the MLS immediately, or not at all.
The MLS feed representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comments on the demand.
Friday’s demand is the last climbing in a raspy debate within the industry, one that has also attracted the attention of the Department of Justice. The National Association of Real Estate Agents, which has long guided the real estate rules, has been under scrutiny since 2019 for its private listed policy, called Clara Cooperation. This policy required that the agents enter any new house for sale in a public listing database, called MLS Feed, within 24 hours after advertising.
In March, after a burst of Legal challenges to politics and the growing pressure of the agents and stockbrokers to reconsider, narrowed their policy to allow delayed marketing, such as the private exclusive of the compass, and declared that the individual foods of MLS establish the time that the listings can remain private. There are hundreds of MLS databases throughout the country.
Nar did not immediately respond to a request for comments. But with their turn in the pocket listings, the largest companies in the industry are now fighting to rewrite their rules. Zillow and Redfin announced this month that houses that are initially marketed in private can never be taken to their sites, a movement that says that some industry experts are designed to not protect the owners from homes, but their own list of listed supply.
“It seems that what Zillow is protecting is not the buyer or the seller, but the MLS,” said Rob Hahn, a real estate strategist who writes a subscription newsletter of the popular industry, notoriousb. “It’s about access to potential customers.”
Robert Reffkin, executive director of Compass, described the rule as a “punishment” for those who wish to market their homes differently.
“Zillow is abusing his market power and saying effectively to housing owners:” We know what is best for you, and if you do not agree, we will prohibit you from your agent, “said Mr. Refkin. Many sellers, he said, want Right to choose how their homes market, “he said.
Since November, Compass has largely promoted its private exclusive, a marketing channel of approximately 7,000 housing listings available only for compass agents and buyers who work with them. Those listings are usually kept out of the MLS databases to begin.
But many within the industry have backed away the stock market, saying that if they begin to market their listings only for compasses agents, they have to keep it like this. Zillow and Redfin executives told New York Times that they made the decision to ban the old private lists because their sites were created to promote transparency in the industry.
Redfin and Zillow, in different extensions, both collection agents are a reference rate if they sell a house that appeared in its place (Redfin, which is also a brokerage, only charges the agents of other companies).
Andy Flonce, Executive Director of Costa, said Profit, not transparency, is the true motivation for portals like Zillow.
“They are trying to punish owners saying that if they prepare our market, you can never access our market again,” he said. “It’s too aggressive,” he said, adding that he believed that Zillow was trying to maintain “a monopoly.”
Errol Samuelson, director of development of the Zillow industry, rejected that accusation.
“It’s a justice problem,” he told Times. “Bolsa runners are using the attractiveness of these listings that are behind the velvet rope to benefit the brokerage, and when buyers do not have the same access to the listings, create fair housing problems and distort the market.”
Glenn Kelman, executive director of Redfin, said he believed that the impulse for private lists was rooted in the desire of some stock market runners to keep the artificially high commission rates.
“The industry has just passed through this seismic change where the rates that consumers pay to real estate agents are under pressure,” he said. “And now you have agents that tell consumers that the reason you should pay me a high rate is that I can show you lists that nobody else has.”
The dispute over private lists, he added, was increasing because Nar, which has weakened not only by historical demand but also the accusations of corruption and sexual harassment, had lost the power to advocate consumers.
“Now you see different parts trying to lead the industry in the absence of an organization that is supposed to help us all work together,” he said. “When the cat is out, the mice will play.”
