Conflict between Zillow and Compass is escalating on a new front, as Zillow-owned portal StreetEasy recently introduced a brokerage cap that directly affects the mega-brokerage.
The specialized New York City portal StreetEasy recently introduced a new cap to its Experts program—an invite-only lead generation program where buyers and sellers are connected to member agents—only allowing each brokerage involved to make up 20% of the agent base in the program. That means for brokerages already meeting the cap, no new agents may join.
A spokesperson at Zillow clarified in a statement to RISMedia that the move was about “managing the program moving forward,” and that “no current Expert is losing a spot.” They added that the portal is also “lowering fees on lower-priced transactions to improve coverage and make the program more accessible.”
While the spokesperson noted that Compass is currently the only company over the cap, it “applies the same way to every company in the program.”
“That’s just where the numbers land today,” they added.
Compass did not respond to a request for comment.
The move comes as Zillow and Compass wage a larger battle across the industry, championing different policy priorities for real estate and vying for market dominance—particularly around listings. Compass reportedly directed its agents to temporarily withhold listings from StreetEasy earlier this summer.
The Zillow spokesperson explained that keeping the Experts program “fair and accessible” is how the portal makes sure it stays “valuable.”
“This participation cap ensures that agents at companies of every size, from small independent shops to the city’s largest firms, have a meaningful opportunity to grow their business through Experts,” they continued. “The Success Fee reduction on lower-priced transactions reflects our commitment to strong agent coverage across all price points. Taken together, these changes are about making Experts work better for the whole market.”
In the weeds
StreetEasy also recently released an editorial on its blog from Caroline Burton—Zillow’s VP of NYC and the general manager of StreetEasy—that directly addressed Compass’s recent move to pull listings off of StreetEasy.
Burton wrote in the blog that StreetEasy doesn’t have any objections to the pre-market window, as when it’s “done right, with full public visibility, it can help buyers and sellers alike.” What she said the portal takes issue with is “using that window to wall off access,” such as “turning a ‘coming soon’ into a ‘coming soon, but only if you work with Compass.’”
“Compass says a home should be marketed like a Ferrari, all exclusivity and scarcity. But a house is not a luxury car. It’s a necessity, the largest purchase most families ever make, and a key driver of generational wealth,” she continued. “Hiding them from buyers and bragging about that to shareholders isn’t acceptable, especially in a market like New York, where only about 1 in 7 home listings are affordable to the typical buyer.”
Burton noted that the barrier to entry on being successful in the NYC real estate industry is “already high enough,” and that agents are able to grow by “reaching the broadest possible audience, winning clients on the strength of their expertise, building strong relationships across brokerages, and cultivating a personal brand that follows them throughout their career.”
“An open market is what makes that possible, and what creates the data that gives agents a full picture of the market that powers their expertise,” she continued. “That’s why StreetEasy is committed to it, and why we’re building tools and creating partnerships to help agents compete and grow on their own terms.”
While StreetEasy said the cap does apply to all brokerages in the program equally, some in the industry have taken notice that Compass is (at the current moment) the only brokerage affected.
Ede Egharevba, founder and principal broker of Ukpasia Realty in NYC (who also founded a listing platform startup) said in a post on LinkedIn that the cap “isn’t a fairness policy… (i)t’s a company protecting its own inventory and calling it a principle.”
“Since when did StreetEasy care about the independent brokerage? From my experience, I can tell you they didn’t. Not until Compass got big enough to walk away. Not until listings started disappearing and StreetEasy’s own supply was on the line. That’s when ‘leveling the playing field’ showed up,” he continued.
Only a matter of months ago, Compass dropped its lawsuit against the portal over its “Listing Access Standards” interfering with Compass’s three-phased marketing plan after Zillow updated its rules to allow premarketing.
Still, conflict persisted when Zillow filed a lawsuit against Compass and Chicago-based MLS MRED back in May based on an alleged conspiracy between the two to promote Compass’s private listings and undermine Zillow. The lawsuit had a preliminary injunction hearing in July over whether Zillow could continue banning MRED listings from its platform (or whether MRED could cut Zillow off from its feed).
Compass also followed up the hearing by filing a cascade of ethical complaints against Zillow through 30 Realtor associations, at least 50 MLSs and real estate regulators across 26 states, all surrounding the “the banning of listings and the false advertising around their (Zillow’s) display.” These complaints echoed allegations the brokerage has made publicly and in court regarding how portals—specifically Zillow—describe for-sale properties as “off market” when the listings are banned.
