Four brokerage giants build shared listings database to take on Compass

Four of the country's largest residential brokerages say they're done letting listings hide behind walls. AGNT — parent of eXp Realty and NextHome — HomeServices of America, Keller Williams and RE/MAX announced they're building Open Real Estate, a shared listings database and API that any other brokerage can plug into. Members have to submit a new listing within one business day. The founders are footing the bill for the infrastructure and tech, so there's no initial charge or fee to join. Brown Harris Stevens, Lamacchia Realty, Samson Properties and Windermere are already in as early participants.

The target is plain. Private, off-market listings have spread in certain markets, and Compass has leaned into them — a strategy the new platform's backers say fragments the market and starves consumers of information. AGNT CEO Leo Pareja said the goal is a complete, reliable dataset that shows what's actually happening, whether the obstacle is MLS fragmentation, pocket listings or walled gardens. Housing analyst Jonathan Miller, director of markets at StreetMatrix, told CNBC the move is clearly a clap back at Compass, arguing Compass hides listings from competitors by design.

Open Real Estate isn't quite as open as the name suggests. The platform includes a so-called participant view, where a property is visible only to agents tied to participating brokerages and can't be publicly marketed by anyone — not even the listing agent or brokerage, according to the company's website. Pareja said that option will be used sparingly, mostly for high-profile or celebrity sellers trying to guard their privacy. So exclusives don't vanish; they just get a narrower door.

Compass CEO Robert Reffkin greeted the news with a congratulatory post on X, saying he's excited about a national listing service that returns power to the homeowner and their trusted agent, and that Compass looks forward to helping build what comes next. He declined to say more when asked. Pareja's take: they appreciated the kind words, and Reffkin is very much invited to participate.

Meanwhile, the legal fight keeps widening. New York's OneKey MLS joined the California Regional Multiple Listing Service's federal lawsuit against Compass, asking a court to confirm that rules protecting shared, public marketing of listings are lawful and pro-competitive. It followed OneKey's rejection of Compass's push to dismantle local cooperation policies. OneKey CEO Richard Haggerty said the case reaches far beyond any single company or market, touching how homes are shared, how buyers find them and how a fair housing market is protected. Separately, six regional MLSs representing more than 120,000 real estate pros nationwide filed their own joint federal lawsuit against Compass last month. Compass is already tangled in more than half a dozen lawsuits with state and local MLSs over listing rules and antitrust claims.

Pareja insists the new database isn't gunning for the MLS system. He said the group will work alongside MLSs rather than usurp or replace them, and that Open Real Estate shouldn't be read as a national MLS. Whether the industry sees it that way is the next fight.