In his continued movement of expanding seller choice across real estate, Compass CEO Robert Reffkin said he expects “more than 90% of MLSs to have rules that allow sellers to market both Private Exclusives and Coming Soons by the end of the year” during the company’s recent Q2 earnings call.
In presenting to investors, Reffkin said that “the trend for seller choice is moving quickly,” backing up his point with data from Chicago—where Compass has “the most Coming Soons of any market.”
In Chicago, Reffkin said sessions on Compass.com were up 111% year-over-year, beating out the previously average growth of 34% year-over-year.
“This reflects what happens when MLS rules let clients and their agents choose to market properties how they see fit, which in this case is through the local MLS MRED,” he continued.
Reffkin said that seller choice options are already becoming the “norm,” as currently 60% of Compass’s markets allow its three-phased marketing plan within their rules.
“We think this is going to become more and more the norm as agents see the value in it for their sellers,” he continued.
As the options for seller choice expand, Reffkin stated he expects by Q3 for 80% of Compass brokerage listings to launch as a Coming Soon on Compass.com and Redfin and grow from there.
A scathing review
Reffkin dove in depth to the MLS system on the call, specifically calling out his opinion of how it is “anti-competitive, “anti-consumer” and “illegal.”
“I believe in competition. Not only does the law require companies to compete, but competition is the bedrock of our economy. Competition is the engine that produces the most value in options for consumers,” he began. “However, today, the most powerful entity in real estate—the multiple listing services or MLSs—they do not compete.”
Reffkin went on to allege that many MLSs are “abus(ing) their power” through the creation of mandatory rules that are enforced with the threat of fines up to $5,000. He said agents are unable to push back against these rules because they need access to the MLS in order to do their job.
Reffkin also referred to the current MLS system as one of monopolies, as in many markets across the country agents only have one choice of MLS.
“Multiple listing services should have to compete for our business just as brokerages have to compete for agents and agents have to compete for their clients,” he continued.
Reffkin additionally called out how MLSs are private, non-governmental entities, saying that the MLS “is controlled by a collection of our competitors who are running the board and they are telling us how we can and cannot compete.”
“What other private business is told how to compete by a collection of their competitors,” he questioned. “This is why the MLS system has been investigated or sued by the United States government over 100 times in the last 50 years. The MLS has been weaponized against the very customer that pays to get access to that service utility, namely the real estate agent and the real estate brokerages those agents are associated with.”
Bringing the argument to a close, Reffkin said all of this is the reason he is “supporting multiple listing services and portals that compete for our real estate professionals.”
“Everything Compass has done in the past and everything it is doing today is designed to infuse competition into MLS and portals in real estate,” he continued, naming the company’s Rocket-Redfin partnership, as well as the several national MLS partnerships it has inked lately.
“Competition will empower the best agents and the best brokerages. Competition will naturally eliminate restrictive rules and empower the three-phase marketing strategy,” Reffkin concluded. “Competition will unlock the full potential of the Compass business model, and competition is coming.
The Q2 numbers
Breaking down the actual financials for Q2, Compass reported a solidly profitable quarter, which Reffkin noted surpassed the high-end of the company’s guidance range as the inclusion of Anywhere brands proves to be fruitful.
Revenue came in at $4.31 billion, up from $2.7 billion in Q1—aka the first quarter Anywhere brands were included. Now with the inclusion of Anywhere, revenue jumped 109% year-over-year (up from $2.06 billion in Q2 2025).
Adjusted EBITDA clocked in at $363 million, well up from $61 million last quarter and $125 million last year. Compass also specifically noted that this measure excluded depreciation and amortization of $153 million, non-cash stock-based compensation expense of $38 million and $34 million in merger transaction and integration expenses.
On the brokerage side, gross transaction value was $155.2 billion, up from $97.3 billion last quarter and a jump of 98.2% year-over-year (up from $78.3 billion in Q2 2025). Agents closed 153,009 total transactions, up from 99,504 last quarter and a jump of 109.5% year-over-year (up from 73,024 in Q2 2025).
Agent count actually decreased slightly, down from 84,187 in Q1 to 83,184 in Q2, due to 3,819 agent separations during the quarter. Compass reported these separations were “driven primarily by a strategy at a specific brand acquired through the Anywhere transaction to separate low and non-productive agents.”
Despite this, agent retention rate actually shifted upward slightly, from 94.1% in Q1 to 95.5% in Q2.
Compass also noted that it gained a smaller addition of agents during Q2 (2,816). This was attributed by CFO Scott Wahlers to a shift in recruiting practices “towards more productive agents,” an initiative announced last quarter.
Looking ahead, Compass said it expects a revenue of $3.85 billion to $4.05 billion for Q3, and an adjusted EBITDA of $275 million to $305 million.
