Compass vs Zillow over private (pocket) listings

Compass Real Estate — the nation’s largest residential broker — has been trying to play a version of gatekeeper by keeping new Boston condo for sale listings private long enough for its own agents and clients to get first dibs.

But Zillow — the nation’s largest real estate portal — says it won’t play along.

In a recent move that sent a bombshell through the nations real estate industry, Zillow announced that starting May 1, it will blacklist any property that starts its life behind Compass’s “private” curtain.

“A listing marketed to any buyer should be marketed to all buyers,” Zillow said in a statement on its website. “Consumers should not have to wonder whether the home that might be perfect for them is hidden behind a gate they didn’t know existed.”

Zillow’s new standards require that any new listing put on a multiple listing service — a database where agents and brokers share information on properties for sale, such as our MLSPIN — be published on websites like Zillow within 24 hours of the start of a public marketing campaign.

But Compass has been keeping many listings off the multi-list services, making them private with limited accessibility — meaning the general public could not view the listing until Compass agents have a chance to market them to buyers for an exclusive period of time.

My thoughts on the feud and the Boston condo for sale market

This feud will be interesting to watch. Will one of these titans cave in? Will they both hold their ground?

I think there will only be one loser, and that will be – the Boston condo buyer.

Why? If all the large and small Boston real estate companies, start keeping their listings behind their private websites and not on MLS. How does that help the Boston condo buyer find their dream home? Do they have to log into every Boston real estate website to find condos?

This is going to slow down the Boston condo sales market. Maybe even to a halt.