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Reaction was mixed Friday as real estate executives processed Zillow’s move to prohibit listings that are marketed privately beyond the 24-hour window allowed under the National Association of Realtors’ Clear Cooperation Policy.
James Dwiggins | NextHome
On Thursday, Zillow announced the new listing policy in tandem with a commitment from eXp Realty to follow the rule. Properties that violate it will be banned from Zillow for “the life of the listing” unless they are subsequently re-listed with a different brokerage, executives said. By Friday, NextHome had also vowed to follow Zillow’s new standards.
“NextHome fully supports Zillow’s decision,” NextHome co-CEO James Dwiggins told Inman. “A listing marketed to any buyer must now be available to every buyer to avoid fair housing issues and provide sellers the benefit of the entire marketplace for the highest sales price possible.”
“This is a major win for both homebuyers and sellers and helps ensure the integrity of the U.S. residential real estate market we’ve worked so hard to build,” he said, after calling the policy a “checkmate” on LinkedIn Thursday.
As real estate professionals digested the news, however, some executives questioned Zillow’s ability to ban privately marketed listings from its platform as an MLS participant. On Friday, Ed Zorn of California Regional MLS emphasized that Zillow’s adjustment was well within the bounds of NAR’s policy.
Ed Zorn | California Regional MLS
“There seems to be a misunderstanding that if you take an [Internet Data Exchange] data feed, that you are required to display all the listings,” he said.
“And in fact, NAR’s [Handbook on Multiple Listing Policy] Statement 7.58 states the exact opposite principle,” added Zorn. “What it says is participants may select the IDX listings they choose to display based on only objective criteria, including but not limited to factors such as geography or location, list price, type of property, or type of listing. So type of listing is even included as one of the few types of objective examples that NAR provides.”
In a YouTube video Friday, Anthony Lamacchia of Lamacchia Realty pointed out how Zillow’s move could potentially impact the industry by reminding viewers of how antsy sellers can get when homes don’t immediately show up on the portal after being listed because of whatever syndication issue.
“Sellers are always calling their agents, ‘Why isn’t my house on Zillow? Why isn’t my house on Zillow?'” Lamacchia said. “Zillow knows that, and they’re flexing their muscles, and I have to say, I don’t blame them. I think this is a brilliant move … these are smart people [at Zillow].”
A power grab?
In the race for market share, some executives told Inman that Zillow’s listing rule will serve as an antidote to recent moves by Compass and other brokerages to build private networks in an effort to consolidate and control listings.
Under terms of NAR’s “Multiple Listing Options for Sellers” policy, which must be implemented by Sept. 30, homesellers will now have the ability to delay entering listings on the IDX for a period of time determined by local MLSs, a prospect some executives saw as a threat to Zillow’s business model.
Mike DelPrete, Real Estate Tech Strategist
“Zillow is effectively forcing agents to make a choice, but the ultimate deciding force in this battle isn’t the portal, the brokerage, or the agent — it’s the consumer,” tech strategist Mike DelPrete wrote on LinkedIn Thursday. “This move is precisely and strategically aimed at that critical juncture, forcing agents to explain to a homeseller why their listing will never be on Zillow, the country’s most popular real estate website, if they decide to list in a private network.”
Thad Wong of @properties Christie’s International Real Estate, an opponent of Clear Cooperation, said the industry should understand Zillow has “no altruistic motivations” behind the policy, which is intended to drive leads to their platform that they can sell for profit. He called the move a “blatant overreach” and said the “brokerage industry” should also be able to create its own policies.
Thad Wong | @properties Christie’s International Real Estate
“Every seller should have the right and choice to market their home in the manner they and their advisor — if they are working with one — see fit,” Wong said. “There are many effective seller strategies that are taken off the table when listings hit the public market, and there are many sellers who are very happy to market and/or sell their home through private channels for a variety of reasons — not the least of which is to avoid having a computer inaccurately rate the value of their home or location, as Zillow often does.”
The Agency CEO Mauricio Umansky told Inman that a war began when NAR enacted Clear Cooperation in 2020 — and this is merely the latest salvo. The CEO has been an outspoken critic of CCP as the debate has continued to rage.
Mauricio Umansky | The Agency
“This battle is occurring primarily between companies like Compass and companies like Zillow, where there’s a battle for the data,” Umansky said. “So this is strictly a mechanism for all of these companies to have market power and control — and everybody is missing the mark, which is what’s best for the consumer and how do we service the consumer. We’re in a service industry, and what we should be doing is just, period, servicing the consumer. Period, end of story.”
For its part, Compass, which sits on the opposite side of the debate from Zillow, likened the portal’s move to an “ultimatum.”
“NAR’s recent move to allow more homeowner choice was a small step forward,” a Compass spokesperson told Inman. “Zillow’s ultimatum to remove homeowner choice goes the other way. Blocking listings that homeowners want publicly marketed because Zillow wants the listing first doesn’t serve consumers.”
Steve Katz | Hilton & Hyland
Beverly Hills-based boutique luxury brokerage Hilton & Hyland told Inman they respected Zillow’s decision and stance on Clear Cooperation but suggested it might not always be the right solution for their clients’ needs.
“In the luxury world, confidentiality isn’t a loophole, it’s a service,” Managing Director Steve Katz told Inman in an email. “We hope the industry continues to support marketing strategies that reflect the diverse needs of clients, rather than applying one-size-fits-all solutions.”
… or in the consumer’s best interest?
The move by Zillow exposes the tug-of-war at play in the industry, Brown Harris Stevens CEO Bess Freedman said, and should serve as “a wake-up call to brokerages pushing a private network agenda.”
Bess Freedman | Brown Harris Stevens
“They keep harping on the idea of seller choice, but sellers do have a choice — to list on- or off-market, to forgo using an agent entirely,” Freedman told Inman. “What these brokerages have not said anything about is buyer choice. What if buyers don’t want to work with a particular agent or company? How will buyers know what’s available if everything is hidden behind some velvet rope?”
“Private listings make up a small fraction of the market,” she added, “but some companies are touting how many of them they have. Fortunately, I think most sellers want maximum exposure. Those few exceptions that do not will be accommodated within the guidelines and successfully.”
Real estate franchisor RE/MAX in response to Zillow’s new standards told Inman that it “champions transparency and fairness” in the industry and that “a consumer-first approach aligns with our core values.”
“Open access to listings is essential for creating a level playing field and fostering trust in the marketplace, and we believe allowing sellers to maintain flexibility strikes a fair balance,” the franchisor said in a statement.
Some companies that Inman reached out to, like Keller Williams and Anywhere, avoided taking a direct stance on Zillow’s new listing standards. Keller Williams did say in a statement emailed to Inman that it thought policy change should occur at the local level. Anywhere reaffirmed its long-held stance to reform Clear Cooperation while also saying it would support agents if the market transitioned toward private listings.
“We applaud efforts in our industry to preserve broad access to listings for consumers,” an Anywhere spokesperson said in an email. “While we have long advocated for reform of Clear Cooperation to allow for additional flexibility for sellers, we do not believe that it should come at the expense of widespread transparency for buyers. Our agents continue to have the ability to publish listings on MLSs and public portals, but, as we have said, we will also ensure that they are never disadvantaged if the market moves in favor of private listings.”
Will other portals follow suit?
Zillow has long been the industry leader when it comes to real estate search portals with its name practically synonymous with “listing portal.”
Now, competitors including Realtor.com, Redfin and Homes.com have a choice when it comes to following the leader or striking out on their own.
In an emailed statement, Realtor.com said they believe NAR’s new delayed marketing exemption “strikes a good balance.”
Glenn Kelman | Credit: Redfin
However, the News Corp.-owned portal also believes broad access to listings is the ideal. As for instituting its own policy, a Realtor.com spokesperson said the company is giving “thoughtful consideration” to the topic.
Redfin did not respond to Inman by press time, but CEO Glenn Kelman has said in the past that the best thing for consumers would be for them to have access to all homes for sale on all real estate sites.
Kelman has also called NAR’s new delayed marketing exempt listings “pocket listings by another name” and something that may confuse consumers. While Redfin has argued in favor of transparency for consumers and a ban on private listings, Kelman has also asserted the company will become “more aggressive about pocket listings” if the industry continues to lean that way.
“No one can expect Redfin to share listings with brokers who hoard listings, especially when Redfin runs the largest brokerage site in America,” Kelman wrote in an Inman op-ed last month.
