House Antitrust Subcommittee Investigates Private Real Estate Listings

On July 22, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust initiated an inquiry into private real estate listing networks by sending letters to Compass and Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED). The subcommittee is seeking detailed briefings on these private listing networks and the data partnership that Compass and MRED announced in April. These briefings are requested to be scheduled by 10 a.m. on August 5.

The subcommittee's inquiry focuses on the competitive implications and effects on buyers when a significant portion of homes for sale in a market are accessible only to certain agents, while remaining invisible to others. This issue has been a subject of discussion within the real estate industry since 2020, with lawmakers now seeking to understand its impact.

This development follows a series of actions by various entities scrutinizing the real estate market. In December, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden sent a letter to the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) urging close examination of Compass's acquisition of Anywhere. Subsequently, in May, Zillow filed a federal lawsuit against Compass and MRED in Chicago. More recently, on July 1, a coalition of eight consumer, housing, and civil rights groups, spearheaded by the Consumer Federation of America, petitioned the FTC and DOJ to launch an investigation.

The bipartisan nature of these concerns is highlighted by the fact that the December letter originated from two Democratic senators, while the July letters were sent by a Republican subcommittee chairman. This suggests a broad consensus across the political spectrum regarding the need to address the practices surrounding private real estate listings. The industry's own attempts to self-regulate, such as the Clear Cooperation Policy, are noted as having partially addressed the issue but are seen as insufficient by some.