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Homebuyers are growing suspicious of a real estate practice that keeps properties out of public view — and many believe brokers are the biggest winners.
Nearly three-quarters of buyers, or 72%, believe homes sold privately without being publicly marketed benefit real estate agents, while roughly 40% say they would feel cheated if a home matching their needs sold without their knowledge, according to a new Zillow report released last week.
The findings come as so-called “pocket listings” — homes marketed through private brokerage networks rather than widely advertised on public real estate platforms — fuel a growing industry battle over who gets access to properties for sale.
While most buyers believe agents benefit from the practice, just 58% say private listings benefit sellers, and 55% believe they benefit buyers themselves, according to Zillow’s 2026 Consumer Housing Trends Report.
“I think people have pretty good instincts about what’s fair and what’s not fair and about misalignment of incentives,” Zillow’s chief economist Mischa Fisher told The Post.
Private listings can offer homeowners greater privacy and flexibility, allowing them to test the market discreetly or avoid the disruption of publicly marketing their properties.
But critics argue that keeping homes off widely accessible listing platforms limits competition, potentially leaving buyers in the dark and sellers with fewer offers.
“It’s already a struggle enough, affordability wise, and now people are hiding inventory, making it harder to find something that’s a good match,” Fisher said, describing the challenges facing homebuyers.
The financial stakes can be significant.
A separate Zillow analysis released in May found that homes sold through private listings typically fetched 1.3% less than comparable publicly listed properties — costing sellers an estimated $4,230 per transaction.
Based on an examination of home sales between 2023 and 2025, Zillow estimated that sellers who used private listings collectively missed out on $1.36 billion over the three-year period.
But brokerages that embrace private listings argue that the practice gives sellers greater control over how their homes are marketed.
Real estate giant Compass, which has championed a three-phase marketing strategy that introduces properties privately before a wider public launch, says the approach allows homeowners to gauge buyer interest, test asking prices and make adjustments before accumulating public days on market or a history of price cuts.
Critics, however, contend that restricting access to properties can limit the pool of potential buyers and undermine the competition that helps sellers secure the best possible price.
The controversy has sparked an increasingly bitter fight among some of the country’s biggest real estate players.
On Friday, Compass filed an antitrust lawsuit against California Regional Multiple Listing Service, accusing the industry group of unlawfully restricting how homeowners can market their properties.
Compass argues that sellers should have the freedom to market their homes outside the shared listing system, while CRMLS maintains that its rules protect an open and transparent marketplace.
The lawsuit came less than two weeks after CRMLS filed its own legal action against Compass, seeking a court declaration that its listing rules are lawful.
The dispute underscores a fundamental disagreement over whether restricting access to listings gives sellers greater control or leaves potential buyers at a disadvantage.
Despite buyers’ concerns about private listings, real estate agents remain a central part of the homebuying process.
“Home buying is still very much an emotional journey,” said Fisher, emphasizing that real estate professionals remain essential to the home buying process.
Zillow found that 85% of buyers used an agent during their purchase, while 78% believed their agent’s commission was fair for the services provided.
For buyers navigating high prices and limited inventory, however, the possibility of missing out on homes they never even knew were for sale adds another layer of frustration.