Executives with Compass Worldwide Holdings suggested high New York Metropolis brokers throughout its manufacturers to briefly take away their listings from StreetEasy this month, The Actual Deal has discovered.
Throughout two separate morning and afternoon conferences held on July 22 at Extell Growth’s Central Park Tower, CIH CEO Robert Reffkin and different brokerage heads recommended brokers briefly take away their listings from the Zillow-owned platform beginning in August, in line with some brokers in attendance.
Every session, billed as a “Fall Advertising Playbook” launch, included roughly 200 brokers. Amongst them have been high brokers comparable to Sotheby’s Worldwide Realty’s Nikki Discipline and Compass’ Leonard Steinberg, in addition to Corcoran president Pam Liebman and Sotheby’s Worldwide’s government vp of gross sales, Marissa Ghesquiere, in line with photographs of the occasion posted to social media.
Brokers differed of their takeaways, with some in attendance viewing the assembly as a part of Compass’ fight against Zillow and StreetEasy. Others stated the suggestion got here as a part of a broader informational session about how brokers can finest place their listings, with out focusing on StreetEasy particularly.
Compass’ Steinberg stated that he normally pulls listings off of public platforms in August, which is likely one of the slowest months for promoting actual property within the metropolis. “It’s a case of what the sellers need to do,” he stated.
A follow-up e-mail despatched to Compass brokers after the session offered a playbook to assist brokers recommend a refreshed itemizing technique to their sellers, with step one being “Delist your itemizing from StreetEasy.” The playbook recommended utilizing the Actual Property Board of New York’s “Participant’s Solely” designation, which shares the itemizing with different brokers utilizing the Residential Itemizing Service, however doesn’t disseminate it to public-facing websites.
“When Compass makes use of their shoppers’ houses as leverage to learn their very own backside line, sellers lose publicity, consumers lose entry and the brokers who play by the principles get undercut,” a StreetEasy spokesperson stated in an e-mail. “That is the Compass playbook: pull listings from open platforms, consolidate consumers into their very own channels, and name it vendor selection. New Yorkers deserve higher.”
A spokesperson for Compass stated that the conferences have been to debate methods for the autumn market.
“We consider brokers have a fiduciary responsibility to symbolize their shoppers’ finest curiosity, and that offering sellers with selections on easy methods to market their properties helps them obtain their particular person targets,” the spokesperson wrote in an e-mail.
Increasing battlelines
The gathering of tons of of high brokers within the metropolis to advise them on taking their listings off of StreetEasy nonetheless raises questions on how Compass would possibly use its vital market energy in New York Metropolis because it has ramped up its combat with Zillow over who controls and monetizes listings.
On Compass’ second-quarter earnings call this week, Robert Reffkin criticized portals like Zillow, with out naming it instantly, for sustaining what he referred to as restrictive guidelines over how brokers can record properties. He additionally recommended that as Compass’ use of personal and “Coming Quickly” listings grows, consumers will begin visiting the agency’s web site instantly for listings.
“Is it unreasonable to count on that the corporate that has probably the most listings in america is the primary place individuals search america?” Reffkin requested through the name. “I don’t suppose so.”
The feedback maintain additional weight after Compass’ acquisition of Wherever, which introduced in nationwide manufacturers like Corcoran, Coldwell Banker, Sotheby’s Worldwide Realty and Century 21, including virtually 90,000 owned-brokerage brokers and 280,000 franchise brokers that may contribute listings to Compass’ unique platform and web site.
On the earnings name, Reffkin additionally pointed to Chicago, the place visitors surged to Compass’ personal web site within the second quarter, as a profitable native case examine for what occurs when listings from Compass brokers disappear from Zillow.
For a number of days in Could, Zillow misplaced almost half of its listings after the native MLS, Midwest Actual Property Knowledge, lower the platform’s information feed. The earlier week, Zillow had sued Compass and MRED, alleging the businesses conspired to hurt Zillow and stifle competitors after Compass syndicated all of its listings on to MRED as a part of the itemizing service’s nationwide enlargement.
Solely in New York
The showdown between Compass and Zillow started in earnest final yr when Zillow up to date its guidelines in April to ban listings from its platform that have been marked elsewhere and never uploaded instantly to its platform. Compass sued Zillow in June of final yr over its coverage, however dropped the case earlier this yr.
Across the identical time, StreetEasy unveiled its personal coverage that may shut off agent entry to broadly used applications like StreetEasy Specialists, StreetEasy Concierge and Zillow Premier Agent for New York Metropolis brokers discovered to be advertising and marketing listings off its platform.
Brokerage relationships with StreetEasy and the Actual Property Board of New York’s Residential Itemizing Service usually are not the identical as their relationships with MLSes and Zillow, as most brokers input their listings directly onto StreetEasy reasonably than counting on syndication.
Nevertheless, Compass has acquired a big chunk of the agent base within the metropolis after its $1.6 billion acquisition in January of Wherever Actual Property, which owned main manufacturers within the metropolis like Corcoran, Sotheby’s Worldwide Realty and Coldwell Banker Warburg. An evaluation from regulatory publication The Capitol Discussion board put Compass’ market share in Manhattan at 80 % based mostly on 2025 information from RealTrends.
Compass took a big step in its model consolidation earlier this month when it knowledgeable brokers at Coldwell Banker Warburg that they might be folded into Compass and start working as “Warburg at Compass.”
Compass’ consolidation amid its push for brokers to make use of non-public listings has caught the eye of native and federal officers. In June, TRD reported that the antitrust division of the New York Lawyer Normal’s Workplace was reaching out to leaders at high New York Metropolis brokerages to request data as a part of a probe into Compass’ footprint out there.
In July, Reffkin received a letter from a U.S. Home subcommittee centered on antitrust and regulatory points requesting a briefing on its partnership with MRED and the way its use of personal listings may affect the housing market.
Learn extra
“People will search where the inventory is”: Robert Reffkin lays out Compass’ portal ambitions
MLS en garde: Regional listing services eyeing congressional inquiry into Compass and MRED
StreetEasy to boot agents from specialty tools over private listings
