Howard Hanna’s decision to launch its own private listing network could mark an inflection point in the real estate industry’s long-running debate over exclusive listings and who ultimately controls listing data.
This week, the Pittsburgh-based brokerage unveiled HannaList, a platform that allows Howard Hanna agents and their clients to share listings internally before distributing them more broadly through the multiple listing service. The strategy mirrors a staged marketing approach popularized by Compass, which begins with brokerage-only exposure before listings move into wider public marketing.
With the nation’s largest independent brokerage now adopting a phased marketing concept, some industry observers say the idea may be moving beyond a single-company experiment and could be reaching a point where more followers join.
“It’s really not private versus public, it’s degrees of exposure,” longtime industry executive and entrepreneur Russ Cofano told Inman.
Russ Cofano
Cofano said the debate reflects how listing distribution has evolved over time — from broker-controlled networks to what eventually became an all-or-nothing model under the MLS system, where a property was “either listed, or it’s not.”
But major brokerages are now using technology to reshape that dynamic while leveraging their scale competitively in a challenging housing market.
“What we’re seeing now is brokerage companies — especially large ones with significant listing inventory — using technology to compete the same way brokers did before the MLS,” Cofano said. “They’re creating different stages of exposure for listings while still working within the MLS rules.”
Howard Hanna’s move is notable in part because of the company’s size and geographic reach. The brokerage operates across 15 states and holds strong market share across much of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic.
It is also the nation’s largest family-owned brokerage — a distinction CEO Hoby Hanna has often emphasized, particularly as many of the industry’s other large national brokerages are publicly traded or backed by private equity.
While Compass has been the most visible champion of private exclusives — particularly in large urban markets — HannaList reflects a similar strategy being deployed by another major brokerage with significant listing inventory.
Cofano said the growing interest in these marketing strategies also reflects deeper tensions over listing data and how it is used across the industry.
“The result of Clear Cooperation was that Zillow had the ability to monetize the listing work of these companies and create a multibillion-dollar business around it,” Cofano said. “Now brokerages are saying, ‘Time out — that’s our asset.’”
Moves like HannaList suggest the idea is gaining broader traction across the industry as brokerages look for ways to regain greater control over how listing data is used and distributed — another theme that Hoby Hanna has long discussed.
But Howard Hanna is far from the only brokerage leaning into the exclusive listing strategy. Although Compass helped popularize the staged marketing approach, other firms have launched their own private listing programs, including Douglas Elliman’s Private Listings, Corcoran Reserve and private-exclusive offerings used by some Sotheby’s International Realty affiliates and Long & Foster.
At the same time, the marketing strategy — and the promise of exclusivity during a time of listing scarcity — can provide brokerages with another advantage in the ongoing competition for agents.
“When you scrape off the window dressing, brokerage comes down to recruiting, retention and helping agents be more productive,” Cofano said.
Programs that allow agents to market listings in stages can become attractive tools when firms compete for top producers, particularly in a market where inventory remains tight and listings are harder to secure.
Industry leaders are also watching how the strategy could spread across other major brokerage networks. Compass’ recent acquisition of Anywhere Real Estate raised questions about whether similar marketing tools could eventually appear across brands such as Coldwell Banker, Century 21 and Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate.
Chicago offered an early glimpse of how the dynamic could play out. After Compass acquired Chicago market leader @properties last year, company founders Thad Wong and Mike Golden publicly argued that sellers should retain greater flexibility in how listings are marketed before reaching the MLS.
Still, Cofano said the industry has yet to settle on where the balance should ultimately fall — even as he acknowledged that if he were running a brokerage, he would likely be exploring similar strategies.
“The brokerage industry is a sick industry economically,” Cofano said. “We need to figure out a way to help the brokerage industry be less sick from an economic standpoint.”
For now, he said, many brokerages appear to be experimenting as they try to navigate those competing pressures.
“I don’t know if I have the answer,” Cofano said.
