Redfin to Show Compass Private Listings in Portal Plot Twist

The US brokerage and discovery platform Redfin will begin displaying Compass’s exclusive “coming soon” listings, in a move first reported yesterday by the Wall Street Journal.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the agreement will see Compass’s private listings appear on Redfin, giving buyers their “first chance to view these listings on a major real estate portal”.

The American market has been locked in a heated debate over so-called private or exclusive listings. Traditionally, homes are listed on local Multiple Listing Services, which then syndicate to portals such as Zillow and Redfin.

Compass, the largest US brokerage by sales volume, has been pursuing a different strategy. It encourages sellers to test homes privately before going fully public, arguing this allows them to gather feedback and refine pricing.

Critics, including rival brokerages and portals, say this restricts transparency and could limit competition. One such critic has been former Redfin boss Glenn Kelman, who said that home hunters "shouldn’t have to know the secret handshake to see all the homes for sale."

Zillow went as far as introducing a policy last year designed to discourage exclusive listings. Compass responded with a lawsuit in June, a case that remains ongoing.

Redfin’s shift is therefore striking. Under Kelman, it had opposed exclusive listings, but its stance “has evolved” following its acquisition by Rocket in July, the Journal reported.

Under a new three-year agreement between Compass and Rocket, Compass’s “coming soon” listings will appear on Redfin, which has around 50 million monthly visitors, according to Rocket. Redfin is not paying Compass for the listings, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Rocket chief executive Varun Krishna told the Wall Street Journal: “It’s all really focused around increasing inventory, which we know is key to stimulating the housing market”.

Inventory is the operative word. US housing supply remains structurally tight, and control of listings is leverage. By aligning with Compass, Redfin differentiates itself from Zillow and inserts Rocket’s mortgage proposition deeper into the transaction funnel.