Zillow on Monday released data that it says shows most real estate agents comply with its policy that aims to block home listings publicly marketed through private listing networks.
Zillow began enforcing its listing access standards in June after unveiling them in April. The company begins blocking listings if agents receive three or more notices of a violation.
The portal said that about 90 percent of agents who have received a violation ultimately received just one such notice. About 10.5 percent of agents who received notices received two.
“The majority of agents already want to keep their clients’ listings broadly visible,” the company wrote in a blog post. “And agents who receive a notification about a listing that doesn’t meet the Zillow Listing Access Standards decide to broadly market their next listing to benefit buyers and sellers alike.”
The small amount of data Zillow shared on Monday largely aligned with results from a recent Inman Intel survey, which found most agents didn’t utilize a private listing or office exclusive in the past year.
More than half of agent respondents at franchises and private indies agreed with the idea that private listings rarely benefit the seller, and “often extend the timeline of the sale.”
Zillow’s Listing Access Standards have been at the center of one of the most heated debates in recent memory.
The standards appeared to take aim at a push made by Compass, the nation’s largest brokerage by sales volume, which has pushed to create a broad network of privately marketed listings.
Compass sued Zillow in June, just days before the new standards were set to take effect, and the two companies remain locked in a legal battle to this day.
Zillow didn’t provide specific information about how many listings have been blocked as a result of its updated listing standards. It also didn’t name specific brokerages that have received violations.
But the company used the early information to suggest that the majority of agents are aligned with its policy.
“The vast majority of agents today choose to broadly market listings, giving sellers maximum visibility and ensuring buyers have a fair chance at every available home,” the company wrote.
