On Wednesday, Chicago-area agents and brokers were thrown into the middle of an escalating battle between MRED and Zillow, with thousands of listings disappearing from the nation’s leading home search portal, with some beginning to reappear later in the day.
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Early Wednesday morning, Zillow had nearly 5,000 active listings in Chicago, according to Inman’s review of the site. By late morning, that number had dropped below 700, but within minutes it had rebounded to about 2,000, where it remained as of Wednesday afternoon. It is unclear whether the partial rebound reflects the resolution or the development of alternative listing sources, including direct supply agreements with brokerages.
For agents and brokers, the disruption has moved broader fights over pre-market product listings, portal access and MLS rules into more practical territory, raising questions about how to advise buyers and sellers when major consumer search portals may no longer be able to display the complete market.
MRED announced Wednesday that it has suspended access to Zillow’s listing data and asked the portal to remove listings that no longer have display licenses. Zillow, which sued MRED and Compass in federal court, said homebuyers and sellers in the Chicago area now have “much worse access to the housing market” as a result of the MLS move.
But the investigators Inman interviewed on Wednesday were more focused on the customer conflict at hand than the legal arguments.
“I work for the seller.”
Matt Larisse, a managing broker with AmeriCorp Real Estate’s Larisse Team, said he believes the MLS should remain the industry’s central source of listing data and is skeptical of private listing strategies that push homes away from the broader market.
Larissey also said the Zillow cutoff puts agents and brokers in a difficult position, especially if sellers expect their homes to be listed on the major consumer search portal.
“Consumers aren’t winning here. They just lost their favorite way to search. Many of my sellers want to be on Zillow. At the end of the day, I work for them,” Larissey told Inman.
Larissey said he contacted hundreds of active buyers this week to warn them that Zillow no longer has a direct MLS feed and may no longer display all available listings in the Chicago market. Most buyers are less interested in learning how disputes work and more interested in knowing where to look next, Larissey said.
“The consumers we work with don’t really care what we’re fighting about,” Larissey said. “They want to see a property and be able to buy it. And in my opinion, most sellers want their property to be seen by as many people as possible, sell the property for as much money as possible, and make it an easy process.”
Larissey said the dispute also creates a practical dilemma for independent brokerages, who may support MRED’s role as a central market but may also face pressure from sellers seeking maximum exposure. Larissey added that the issue poses complications for sellers who regularly scrutinize listings on consumer portals and expect mistakes to be quickly corrected.
“If Zillow or Redfin or Realtor.com has a decimal point in the wrong place or an image out of order, they’ll call us. It’s like a fire drill,” Laricy said. “Now we’re like, ‘Oh, we’re not going there anymore.'”
Larissey said it may be no coincidence that one of the industry’s biggest property distribution battles is being played out in Chicago, the nation’s third-largest city and home of the National Association of Realtors.
“We’re the third-largest market in the country. We don’t have the crazy, old-school tactics of New York or the over-the-top technology of San Francisco. We’re like the Third Coast,” Larisse said.
Agents disagree about how important it is
Other agents were more skeptical that Zillow’s temporary loss of MLS-sourced properties would significantly change the day-to-day business of buying and selling homes.
Daniel Dowell of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago’s Dowell Group said he doesn’t think the Zillow disruption is a market-shaking event for most consumers, especially if listings remain available through other search platforms and brokerage sites.
“To me, Zillow is just a site like Homes.com, like Realtor.com,” Dowell says. “Do you think it has any effect just because your home isn’t on Zillow? I really don’t.”
Dowell said agents who pay Zillow for leads could be affected, but questioned whether consumers would feel much of an impact if listings remain available through other search platforms or brokerage sites.
“I don’t think there will be any other impact on consumers,” she said. “I don’t think just because your home is listed on Zillow it’s going to sell for more than other platforms that are already selling. People will just look at other platforms.”
Andrea Geller, a Compass agent in the Chicago area, similarly argued that consumers are not without options, and said agents and brokerages should already be connecting their clients to MLS-provided search tools, brokerage platforms and other property portals.
“Part of demonstrating your value as a real estate agent is connecting real estate agents through interactive search,” Geller said.
Geller said many buyers working with agents already receive listings through MLS-connected tools such as Zenlist and brokerage search platforms. For Compass, she said, customers are increasingly using the company’s Compass One platform. Geller also argued that Zillow’s value to consumers could decrease if it no longer carries the full range of listings in the marketplace.
Rafael Murillo, another Chicago Compass representative, framed the dispute as a question of seller choice and whether Zillow can influence how products are sold, a view broadly consistent with arguments often made by Compass executives including Robert Refkin and Rory Gorod.
“Zillow is ultimately a third-party advertising platform, not a marketplace per se. The MLS is the marketplace,” Murillo told Inman.
Murillo said his focus is on helping sellers choose the marketing strategy that best fits their goals, including an immediate release or a phased approach that starts with private networks and agent relationships. Murillo said he supports MRED’s position, arguing that MLSs, agents and brokers supply the inventory that supports Zillow’s business.
“At the end of the day, Zillow shouldn’t be dictating how agents and sellers market their properties,” Murillo said. “Without agents, brokers, and an MLS system like MRED to supply inventory, Zillow has no business.”
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