Compass’ exclusive listing inventory
Over the past year, despite industry pushback, Compass has worked to grow its network of exclusive listing inventory. In acquiring Anywhere’s owned brokerage operation, as well as its franchise network, Compass now has the ability to create a vast portfolio of exclusive listings in many of the nation’s largest housing markets. This has led many industry experts to believe that Compass is putting itself in a position to remake access to real estate data, potentially challenging the stronghold MLSs have over listing data.
MLS executives, including industry veteran and San Diego MLS CEO Saul Klein deemed this news a “big deal” for MLSs, associations and other brokerages.
Mike DelPrete, a real estate industry technology strategist shared a similar take on LinkedIn.
“In 10 years time, what I think this deal will be known for — the leverage it now gives Compass in its ongoing push for exclusive inventory, but really its challenge to the existing MLS, National Association of Realtors (NAR), and Zillow hegemony. Game on,” DelPrete wrote.
As the managing broker of a small brokerage in Wellesley, Massachusetts, Chip Stella has some concerns as to how a larger book of Compass exclusive inventory could impact his business.
“As a business owner it hurts me as I don’t have access to that inventory for my buyer clients,” Stella, the managing broker of Rutledge Properties, said. “It also hurts Compass’s sellers. My firm is the number two brokerage in Wellesley, and if my agents aren’t able to find these listings they aren’t bringing their buyers to see them. It will hurt consumers all around.”
In order to compete with this, Steve Murray, the co-founder of RealTrends Consulting, postulates that small and medium-sized brokerages may begin to form networks in order to share exclusive listing among themselves.
The resistance to Compass’s private exclusive model ‘is…