Compass is opening the door to its exclusive listings—but only halfway.
The brokerage announced Friday that it will share all its exclusive listings with rival brokerages and Multiple Listing Services (MLSs), but only under two conditions:
- Listings must not be altered or monetized through practices such as selling listing data to third parties, and listing agents must remain prominently featured.
- Brokerages and MLSs must ensure agents won’t be fined or banned for sharing listings.
In a release, Compass invites any organization who can meet these terms to reach out directly to robert@compass.com.
The move comes amid industry tension over private listing practices, including an ongoing lawsuit with listing giant Zillow, alleging anticompetitive behavior due to the portal’s new Listing Access Standards, which prevent any privately marketed listing from appearing on Zillow.
In a statement, a Compass spokesperson said this move aims to clear up misinformation and reaffirm the company’s commitment to cooperation.
“There are narratives circulating that make false accusations,” the spokesperson said. “By showing that we will make our exclusive inventory available to anyone who agrees not to alter or monetize the listing and keep the listing agent front and center, we reinforce what we have said all along: At Compass, we co-broke with everyone.”
This isn’t the first time Compass has opened up its exclusive listings. In May, the brokerage launched the Compass Private Exclusive Book in all markets. This digital and physical book of the firm’s private exclusives is accessible to all consumers and agents, regardless of their brokerage affiliation.
According to a release at the time, agents from all brokerages could visit any Compass office to browse the exclusive listings one-on-one with a Compass agent. “Private isn’t hidden, exclusive isn’t secret,” said a Compass spokesperson in the release. “The majority of Compass Private Exclusives that sell off-MLS are co-brokered with non-Compass agents.”
The central tenet of Compass’ argument has been that sellers deserve a choice in how their homes are marketed, pointing out what it believes are the risks of public market exposure, such as the negative impact of price reductions or languishing days on market. Compass also rails against the frequent use of listing data by third-party platforms and financial institutions.
“Many homeowners are unaware that their listing data fuels entire third-party businesses,” the Compass spokesperson said. “Home-sale details are packaged with other public records and used to build products that banks, hedge funds and institutional landlords use to buy or finance properties.”
“The purpose of a homeowner’s listing is to sell their home, not to generate money for MLSs and portals. If stakeholders won’t agree to stop altering and monetizing a homeowner’s listing, they’re showing they care more about making money from the homeowners’ listings than helping homeowners sell their homes,” the spokesperson added.
Compass Founder & CEO Robert Reffkin has been vocal in advocating against the National Association of Realtors®’ (NAR) Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP), which is staunchly supported by Zillow along with mega firms such as eXp and Redfin.
“Zillow bans listings marketed outside of its platform, and CCP fines agents for sharing listings outside of their MLS platforms,” said the Compass spokesperson. “What, hopefully, Compass’ offer makes clear is that the CCP and Zillow bans are not rules against off-market listings; they are rules against sharing listings outside of their respective platforms.”
Zillow did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
