Zillow loses access to Chicago listings in antitrust clash with MRED and Compass

Zillow has lost access to approximately 5,000 property listings in the Chicago area following the filing of an antitrust lawsuit against Midwest Real Estate Data LLC (MRED) and Compass. The abrupt loss reduced the Zillow market in Chicagoland from nearly 5,000 homes to about 1,700, leaving consumers with fewer options on the platform. Competing platforms such as Redfin and Realtor.com currently host between 5,000 and 8,000 listings in the region, offering an alternative for buyers seeking properties in the area.

Zillow alleges that MRED and Compass, described as powerful players in the real estate industry, conspired to create barriers to information by hiding homes behind a Private Listing Network (PLN). The company claims this practice restricts consumer access and harms competition, arguing that Compass uses the PLN to lure prospective buyers to its brokerage with the promise of access to hidden listings. Zillow contends this allows the brokerage to maximise profit by engineering deals where its agents represent both sides of the transaction.

In response, MRED has moved to compel arbitration, asserting that Zillow’s antitrust claims are meritless and amount to a contract dispute. MRED claims that Zillow breached its agreement by suppressing nine specific listings, which triggered a clause cutting off access to 43,000 listings. The company characterised Zillow’s harms as self-inflicted, noting that the platform was aware that blocking these listings would result in the loss of access to the broader feed.

Compass has defended the practice as a mechanism to protect consumer choice in marketing. The brokerage stated that the legal fight concerns whether homeowners have a choice in how they market their homes or if Zillow can impose a one-size-fits-all policy. Compass argued that restricting listing visibility and penalising agents for exercising lawful marketing options undermines consumer choice and the fiduciary obligations agents owe their clients.

The dispute escalated in early May, when MRED and Compass allegedly threatened to terminate Zillow’s access to the listing feed if it did not display listings that violated Zillow’s own policies. Zillow has requested a preliminary injunction to restore transparency, arguing that the conspiracy exacerbates housing affordability issues by incentivising brokerages to withhold listings from the market. Zillow maintains that its own pre-market listing product, Zillow Preview, aligns with transparency standards and differs fundamentally from the private networks it criticises.