When Compass announced this week that it has partnered with Rocket Companies to display private exclusive products on Redfin, the giant brokerage firm made a potentially industry-changing strike in its war against organized real estate.
For at least three years, Redfin will host listings within Compass’ three-step marketing process. The portal will prominently display listings for which no days are added to the market or price change history. Redfin then sends buyer leads directly to Compass listing agents. Compass’ “Coming Soon” listings will appear on Redfin immediately, followed by “Private Exclusive” properties.
The move is aimed directly at two of Compass’ enemies: multiple listing services that enforce policies Compass considers agents restrictive, and Zillow, the large search portal that has enacted its own rules that seek to limit the marketing approaches Compass favors.
It would also be an existential moment for the industry, industry experts told Inman, and would likely have a ripple effect as competing brokerages chart their own paths, threatening the future of MLSs themselves.
“[Compass CEO Robert] Levkin is drawing a line in the sand. He’s laying out his weapons and saying, “Stop the program or we’re out.” Courtney Poulos, CEO of ACME Real Estate, told Inman: “If you don’t work with us, you’re working against us. It’s really like a war.”
Poulos said this partnership is especially important for MLS itself.
“Welcome to the beginning of the end of MLS. This is the end. This is what it looks like,” Poulos said. “They have contracts mainly in MLS.”
Compass has long criticized certain industry regulations, such as the National Association of Realtors’ explicit cooperation policy, which requires agents to list properties on the MLS within the marketing start date. At the same time, the brokerage has worked to build an extensive property information network that is available to consumers only through Compass agents.
Over time, the network became a competitive threat to other brokerage firms, and some subsequently developed their own proprietary listing networks.
But the proliferation of these networks also posed a threat to Zillow, which relies on listings to attract consumers, generate leads and generate revenue. As a result, the portal announced last April that it would ban listings that were published for more than a day without participating in MLS.
Robert Refkin at Inman Connect New York 2026. Credit: AJ Canaria Creative Services
Redfin announced it would soon enact and enforce a similar policy. However, it later decided to suspend the ban indefinitely, citing a change of heart after being acquired by Rocket Companies.
After Zillow moved forward with the ban, Compass sued the portal to block enforcement of its rules, but an initial ruling in the case showed Compass faces a steep mountain in the legal battle.
On the other hand, some MLSs have their own rules and regulations, including fines that restrict Compass agents from selling properties in the brokerage’s preferred manner.
But with the new partnership, Compass effectively undermined Zillow and the MLS by giving it a way to publicly sell exclusive listings to tens of millions of visitors each month.
“It’s unclear what Zillow is going to do, but some may think they have to do something here rather than leave things as they are,” industry veteran Russ Cofano told Inman. “If they let it happen and it’s successful for Compass, they might win the lawsuit, that’s the battle, but they lose the war.”
After acquiring Anywhere Real Estate, Compass effectively created a behemoth of approximately 340,000 agents who handle a significant share of all real estate listings. Although the merger still faces intense scrutiny from lawmakers and was completed months ahead of schedule, Cofano argued that the merger allowed Compass to move forward with its partnership with Rocket.
“None of this would have been possible without the Compass-Anywhere merger,” Cofano said. “As we have seen in other industries where there is scale and market power, it is clear that market power to go public is an important asset in this case and has the potential to transform the industry.”
Whether and how the industry changes in response to this partnership will become clear in the near future.
“We know that Zillow is obviously going to gauge what the response is going to be here. I’m sure the big brokerages are going to evaluate their strategy here because they’ve had hiring issues with Compass,” Cofano said. “If I were a large MLS, I’d be in the war room discussing what our model would look like in the worst-case scenario.”
Cofano said he expects the brokerage and competing portals to discuss the possibility of their own partnerships.
Asked about the situation, Zillow said in a statement to Inman that it is the most comprehensive platform available. The portal also said it is focused on “executing strategy, investing in innovation and delivering long-term value” to the industry.
“The housing market already faces significant affordability challenges, but approaches that limit visibility of broad listings reduce transparency, limit access to resale inventory, and fragment the market,” the statement continued. “Broad access to real estate information continues to be the cornerstone of a healthy and competitive housing market that serves buyers, sellers, and all agents.”
Separate from portals and MLSs, some experts have suggested that the Compass-Rocket deal could have implications for real estate governance, especially now that the NAR has somewhat distanced itself from its role as the industry’s rulemaker.
“The consolidation that’s happening in the industry is going to create these mega-brokers, these big, powerful players that are going to dictate the rules going forward,” said real estate strategist Mike Delpreto. “The combination of Anywhere and Compass won’t just mean they’ll have a lot of agents and listings; they’ll be the ones dictating the rules and the state of play.”
“NAR can’t get out of this situation by just throwing everything at MLS, because it won’t really exist until MLS starts responding to the real needs of the agent community,” Ploss said. “We would rather create something that we understand.”
Either way, the deal is likely to trigger a ripple effect of change, experts agreed.
“They’re obviously going to trigger a series of reactions to this latest move,” Cofano said. “People aren’t sitting around upset.”
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