But Zillow insists that Zillow Preview is “not at all the same” as MRED’s alleged scheme. In a statement to Ars, Zillow argued that its pre-market listings “can be viewed by any buyer and meet our standards of transparency.”
“Private listing networks are simply private and available only to buyers who work with a specific broker or agent,” Zillow said. “The purpose of previews is to help sell the home. The purpose of PLNs is to disguise the home to get more buyers to work with your brokerage.”
U.S. homebuyers have faced challenges over the past few years, including “persistently high mortgage rates and home prices,” as housing stock has never returned to pre-pandemic levels. forecast he said. While inventory is expected to grow modestly this year, Zillow’s legal battle suggests some brokers may be motivated to hide more and more new listings to boost profits.
Zillow worries that the MRED/Compass plan will inevitably prevent platforms that promote greater transparency from competing with powerful private listing network providers. Zillow argues that this will hurt both buyers and sellers in large markets like Chicago.
“Defendants’ conspiracy harms homebuyers and sellers by encouraging brokerage firms to withhold listings from the market only until they can sell the listing privately, thereby creating barriers to information, exacerbating the affordability and affordability crisis, and reducing the number of buyers and listings that make the real estate market competitive.”
In its complaint, Zillow said MRED and Compass “control more than 99 percent of the market for Chicagoland real estate listing platforms.” They allegedly worked “undercover” and “undercover” to use MRED’s monopoly power and control over Chicagoland listing feeds to force competitors like Zillow to display unwanted private listings, abandon pro-consumer listing policies, and block nascent competing bids that favored more outside access.
“MRED and Compass have agreed to turn back the clock on consumer transparency at a time when American families can least afford it, cut off competition, hide homes and build a marketplace that squeezes more money out of buyers and sellers so Compass can pocket more on every deal,” Zillow said.
