Thousands of Chicago-area home listings just went dark on Zillow. Here’s why
CNN • • business
Key Points:
- Zillow lost access to nearly 3,000 Chicago-area home listings after Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) cut off its regional home-listing database access, significantly reducing available listings on Zillow's platform.
- The dispute centers on Zillow's policy requiring homes marketed to any consumers to be published on Zillow within one day, aimed at transparency, which MRED and Compass argue unfairly targets Compass and private listings.
- Compass, a major real estate brokerage and MRED board member, supports private listings that keep pricing history and market time hidden, claiming it benefits sellers, while critics say it may limit market transparency and favor Compass agents.
- Zillow has sued MRED and Compass for conspiring to block its access to listings, while MRED insists it will maintain the cutoff until Zillow drops its private listing ban, with a court decision on the matter still pending.
- The conflict is currently limiting homebuyers' and sellers' access to complete and updated listings in the Midwest, raising concerns about market transparency and consumer choice.