As the industry’s fight over listing data ownership, distribution and monetization reaches new heights, four of the industry’s largest franchisors have teamed up to create Open Real Estate — a technology platform that streamlines listing syndication for brokerages and agents.
Keller Williams, AGNT (parent company of eXp Realty and NextHome), HomeServices of America and Real REMAX Group debuted the platform on Monday, alongside an open letter titled, “Housing Markets Must Remain Open To All,” which outlines the collective’s ethos regarding homebuyer and homeseller rights, data integrity, fair competition and market transparency (see below for more).
“We believe that access, information and transparency should be a benefit, not a barrier to anyone looking to purchase a home,” Open Real Estate’s founders said in a press release. “Buyers deserve fair and comprehensive access to available housing information.”
“It’s equally important that sellers have an honest understanding of how their homes are being marketed, who they are reaching, and the opportunities they may gain or sacrifice when deciding how best to market their home for sale,” they added. “A healthy market is one where sellers can make truly informed decisions, buyers have access to the broadest possible inventory, and success is determined by those who create the most value — not those who control the most information.”
How the platform works
Open Real Estate enables participating members to create listings using standardized fields (i.e., MLS number, listing status, location details, property specifications, listing price, etc.) and simultaneously share them with other members, local multiple listing services (MLS), real estate portals and other authorized sites through an Internet Data Exchange (IDX) feed. Brokers will only need to enter listings once, the company explained.
Participants are required to submit listings within one business day of the listing agreement being executed with a homeowner. Listing brokers can make the listing available only to Open Real Estate participants in good standing or syndicate the listing to the public. If a listing broker chooses to make the listing available only to Open Real Estate participants, they cannot publicly market it anywhere else.
Open Real Estate also reiterated that it is not a national MLS, noting that the group will work within existing MLS systems and their rules.
“[We] will work in partnership with existing MLS systems by seamlessly distributing comprehensive property information and listing details information to the MLS, as well as real estate portals and other users of the data,” the company’s FAQ read. “Open Real Estate does not set or change MLS rules. Local MLSs keep their own rules, and Open Real Estate focuses on its principles of expanding buyer opportunity, protecting seller choice, protecting data integrity and strengthening industry cooperation.”
Throwing the gauntlet
Open Real Estate’s founders said the platform arrives at a crucial time, as the industry’s biggest players wrestle over listing data ownership, distribution and the rules governing broker cooperation. The fight isn’t new, but has escalated since the National Association of Realtors amended its Clear Cooperation Policy in March 2025.
Compass and Zillow have often been at the center of the action, spending much of the past 19 months locked in antitrust suits against each other. Compass has become more aggressive in its legal strategy, threatening lawsuits against MLSs that don’t change policies on publicly marketed listings not submitted to the MLS or on sharing data with third-party recruitment and retention platforms.
Compass’s demands have yielded several lawsuits, with the California Regional Multiple Listing Service (CRMLS) filing a preemptive antitrust complaint on Oct. 6 and Arizona Regional MLS, Bridge MLS, Canopy MLS, Doorify MLS, Hive MLS, and REcolorado filing a joint lawsuit against the brokerage on Oct. 21.
Although Open Real Estate didn’t mention Compass by name, the collective’s founders said the uptick in private listings should be a cause for concern as the MLS system has been key to maintaining a healthy and competitive housing market.
“Today, that principle is being tested,” the open letter read. “Homes are increasingly marketed privately, outside public listing systems, and in ways that limit competition and reduce transparency. Differences in how listing information is collected, maintained and shared across the industry can undermine its consistency, comparability and accessibility.”
“When listings and property data are fragmented or restricted, buyers risk missing available homes, sellers risk reaching fewer potential buyers, and the transparency and competition that underpin a healthy housing market weaken,” they added.
Compass CEO Robert Reffkin congratulated Open Real Estate’s founders in a Monday morning LinkedIn post, saying that the platform “returns the power back” to homesellers and listing agents.
“Compass International Holdings is excited that there will be a national real estate listing service that will return the power back to the creator of the listing — the homeowner and their trusted agent,” he said. “This is good news for all agents and their clients, and we look forward to helping build the next chapter of listing services.”
Brown Harris Stevens, Lamacchia Realty, Samson Properties and Windermere Real Estate have already joined Open Real Estate, and the company is accepting new participating members ahead of its expected first-quarter 2027 launch date. The group is also asking brokerages, real estate organizations and agents to sign a letter of support on its homepage.
Read the full open letter below:
This is a developing story and will be updated with more information.
