“Gatekeeping” has become unfashionable, as Gen Z wants to know the secrets of everything, from who’s-your-surgeon to finding the perfect apartment. But the latter is becoming harder and harder, as home prices are still high and mortgage rates remain well over 6%. In fact, May 2025 was the slowest month for existing home sales since 2009.
Now, adding to the housing woes, two real estate giants are battling in court: Top-selling real estate brokerage Compass is accusing Zillow (the top real estate website in the U.S., with approximately 160 million properties listed and 227 million unique visitors monthly) of being a “monopolist gatekeeper” and “breaking federal antitrust laws,” per the New York Times.
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“In a free and competitive market, competitors’ products and strategies should rise and fall on merit — not the whims of a monopolist gatekeeper like Zillow,” Compass wrote in the lawsuit, which was filed in New York federal court on Monday.
In late May, Zillow put a rule into effect (announced in April) that bans listings that have appeared elsewhere for 24 hours before going on Zillow. The company says this gives buyers “fair access to listings without having to get access behind a velvet rope controlled by any one company.”
Compass alleges that the “Zillow ban” violates federal antitrust laws. The company offers “Private Exclusives,” where Compass agents and the public can view its listings exclusively. But now, they’d be banned from Zillow.
“This lawsuit is about protecting consumer choice,” Compass CEO Robert Reffkin said in a statement, per CBS. “No one company should have the power to ban agents or listings simply because they don’t follow that company’s business model.”
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“That’s not competition. It’s coercion,” Reffkin added. “Imagine if Amazon banned a seller for offering a product on their own website first. That’s what Zillow is doing in real estate. Consumers should have the right to choose how they sell their homes.”
A Zillow spokesperson told CBS Moneywatch that the company will fight the “unfounded” claims in court.
“At the heart of this issue is a simple principle: When a listing is publicly marketed, it should be accessible to all buyers — across all platforms, including Zillow,” the statement said. “Hiding listings creates a fragmented market, limits consumer choice and creates barriers to homeownership, which is bad for buyers, sellers and the industry at large, especially in this inventory and affordability-constrained environment.”
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