StreetEasy begins same-day listing enforcement amid Compass dispute

What happened

StreetEasy has begun enforcing updates to its Listings Quality Policy that require a property to be published on StreetEasy on the same calendar day its exclusive listing agent starts publicly marketing it. The Zillow-owned New York City residential listing portal said the policy reflects its position that a home visible to some buyers should be available to all buyers.

The enforcement begins during a broader dispute involving StreetEasy and Compass International Holdings over private-exclusive marketing, access through the Real Estate Board of New York’s Residential Listing Service, or RLS, and StreetEasy Experts. Compass removed its listings from StreetEasy in August. At that time, a Compass spokesperson characterized the approach as a common marketing strategy and said the listings remained available to agents at all brokerages using REBNY’s RLS, as well as those agents’ clients.

Compass declined to comment on the current status of its StreetEasy listings. More recently, leaders at Compass International Holdings brands, including Corcoran, used social-media graphics to promote homes for sale that consumers could find on their firms’ websites but not on StreetEasy.

The key details

A listing that is not published on StreetEasy on the same calendar day public marketing begins is a policy violation. StreetEasy’s stated enforcement sequence is specific: an agent’s third listing found to violate the policy will be removed from StreetEasy. All subsequent listings from that agent that do not comply will not be published on any Zillow portal. In addition, the agent will lose eligibility for StreetEasy Experts.

Experts is a lead-generation program for New York City agents. When a consumer selects the request-a-tour option on a StreetEasy listing, the platform connects that consumer with a participating StreetEasy Expert.

StreetEasy also changed the program’s participation rules last month. Under its participation cap, StreetEasy pauses new Experts additions from a company once agents from that company represent 20% or more of the program. Additions remain paused until the firm falls below the 20% threshold. A StreetEasy spokesperson told HousingWire that Compass International Holdings is currently the only company above that threshold, while saying the cap applies equally to all firms. The spokesperson also said no existing Experts will lose their place and described the change as a measure for managing the program going forward.

Why it matters

The conflict concerns how consumers and agents encounter active inventory. Brokers interviewed by HousingWire said consumers have become accustomed to finding most of the city’s active listings on StreetEasy. Agents, meanwhile, can use other channels, including the Participants Only side of REBNY’s RLS.

Jessica Chestler, a Douglas Elliman-brokered agent and co-founder of the Chestler Jacobs Team, said fragmented visibility may leave buyers uncertain whether they have seen all available inventory or have sufficient context when deciding on an offer price. She said RLS members can view listings entered by other firms as Participants Only, but consumers cannot see that inventory unless they work with a REBNY-affiliated agent.

Views differ over the policy and the use of Participants Only status. Brown Harris Stevens CEO Bess Freedman said StreetEasy’s displayed information, including days on market and price history, is useful to consumers and the market. She also said StreetEasy’s decision to treat RLS Participants Only status as public, and therefore require same-day StreetEasy publication, is contrary to REBNY rules. The source does not describe a resolution to that disagreement.

What to watch

It remains unknown how StreetEasy’s enforcement, Compass’s decision to pull for-sale listings from the portal, and the Experts cap will affect buyers, other brokerages, or the division of inventory between public sites and agent-access channels.

The source also reports that some New York City renters have filed an antitrust lawsuit against Compass, alleging that the company used market power to reduce rental-listing visibility on StreetEasy and steer renters to brokers, contributing to higher rents. These are allegations; the source provides no outcome or Compass response.