The nation's largest independent real estate brokerage, Compass, is drawing criticism for a marketing strategy that allegedly withholds a significant portion of home listings from public databases. This practice, known as 'private exclusives,' is accused of limiting buyer access, reducing market competition, and potentially inflating home prices.
Compass, which controls approximately 21.6% of the national real estate market and as much as 80% in major metropolitan areas like Manhattan, markets its 'private exclusive' approach as a way to test the market confidentially before a property goes fully public. According to the company's pitch, this method can help homes sell faster and fetch higher prices. However, critics argue that this strategy effectively creates a "paywall" around listings, forcing buyers to work with a Compass agent to access a substantial inventory.
"When a consumer sits down and uses a website like Streeteasy [in New York City], they don’t know if they’re getting all the listings," said Jonathan Miller, a housing analyst at StreetMatrix, in comments to The Post. "And when you have the largest brokerage firm in the world putting a large amount of listings behind a paywall you’re forced to go through an agent of a particular company rather than anybody you want. This is a major setback in the homebuying process to the 1950s."
Compass's three-stage marketing process begins with a "Private Exclusive," where listings are tested internally among its 340,000 agents. This is followed by a "Coming Soon" phase on select platforms before the listing becomes fully public. The company claims this can lead to homes selling 34% faster and at 4.6% higher prices.
Critics, however, contend that a truly open market is necessary to determine a home's true value. "You cannot determine what a home is worth unless you expose it to the broader market," stated James Dwiggins, CEO of Compass rival NextHome. Consumers, he added, often do not understand the implications of private listings or the role of a Multiple Listing Service (MLS).
Concerns are particularly pronounced in markets where Compass holds a dominant share. In San Francisco and Redwood City, California, Compass reportedly controls over 60% of transactions, exceeding the 30% threshold that can invite federal antitrust scrutiny. In Manhattan, this concentration reaches 80%, meaning buyers using standard listing portals may miss out on a vast majority of available properties.
One seller, Caitlin Bigelow, shared her experience in San Francisco. After initially listing her condominium as a Compass Private Exclusive and receiving an offer at her target price, she grew uneasy. When the buyer withdrew, she relisted the property on the regional MLS and Zillow. The condo ultimately sold for $2.15 million, $100,000 above her initial hoped-for price. "A free and open market is what allowed us to get top dollar and ultimately, walk away with a much bigger win," Bigelow wrote, later advising against private exclusives.
Buyers are also reporting difficulties. Dwiggins himself, while searching for a home in Northern California, found public inventory sparse and had to use personal connections within Compass to view all available properties. Seymen Usta, founder and CEO of Modern Chandelier, described finding a house he liked on Beach Drive in Florida, only to be told it was a "Compass Coming Soon" listing not yet officially on the market. He eventually found the home on Zillow, but it had already sold for $40,000 less than he would have paid, after he spent weeks searching without access to Compass's internal inventory.
In response to these practices, several states are considering legislation to ban or restrict off-market listings. Washington, Wisconsin, and Connecticut are moving forward with such measures, with similar proposals pending in New York, Illinois, and Hawaii. New York's Attorney General's antitrust division has also launched an ongoing investigation into Compass's market footprint.