Four of the country's largest brokerages said they are building a broadly open, shared listing database for brokers called Open Real Estate, and they invited every other brokerage to participate. The founders are AGNT, the parent of eXp Realty and NextHome, HomeServices of America, Keller Williams and Real REMAX Group. Brown Harris Stevens, Lamacchia Realty, Samson Properties and Windermere are named as early participants.
Their pitch is simple: push back against a listing landscape that has splintered, especially with private, off-market placements that a heavyweight like Compass favors. New participants would face no initial fees, with the founders footing the bill for infrastructure and tech.
Members must upload new listings within one business day. The platform also includes a privacy setting called participant view. The site says a property placed there is in a section "where only agents that are associated with participating brokerages can see it, and it cannot be publicly marketed by anyone, including the listing agent and the listing brokerage." Leo Pareja, AGNT's CEO, said that option should be rare and mainly for celebrities or other high-profile sellers seeking discretion.
Pareja framed the aim as data completeness for buyers and sellers: "We want to ensure that for the American consumer, there's a complete data set that is capital T truth, that's reliable as to what is happening in the marketplace." He added that whether the issue is MLSs splitting up, pocket listings or walled gardens, the goal is comprehensive, accurate information. He also said the project is not a national MLS and is not intended to replace MLSs, but to work alongside them.
Jonathan Miller, a longtime housing researcher who runs market analysis at StreetMatrix, called the move "clearly a clap back to Compass, firstly," adding it is "absolutely better because Compass is literally hiding listings from competitors by design." Compass, meanwhile, is tied up in more than half a dozen cases with state and local MLSs over listing rules and antitrust questions.
Moments following the announcement, Compass CEO Robert Reffkin wrote on X that Compass is "excited that there will be a national real estate listing service that will return the power back to the creator of the listing - the homeowner and their trusted agent. This is good news for all agents and their clients, and we look forward to helping build the next chapter of listing services." He declined to comment further when asked. Pareja's reply: "We saw that, and we're grateful for his appreciation, and he's very much invited. We'd love to have him participate."
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The legal front is also moving. New York's OneKey MLS joined the California Regional Multiple Listing Service's federal case against Compass, with the groups urging the court to affirm that policies backing the public, shared promotion of listings are legal and pro-competitive. OneKey said it had earlier rejected Compass's push to unwind local cooperation policies.
"This case raises questions that extend far beyond any one company or market," said OneKey CEO Richard Haggerty. "It goes to the core of how homes for sale are shared, how everyday buyers access that information, and how we protect a fair, equal housing market for everyone. We believe these issues demand clarity from the court, and joining CRMLS gives OneKey a direct, active voice in securing it." Separately, a coalition of six regional MLSs, which together account for more than 120,000 real estate professionals, filed a joint federal lawsuit last month to safeguard rules that maintain public database access to listings.
If Open Real Estate gains traction, you could see more listings available in one place and fewer tucked away in invite-only channels. The founders' no-fee start and one business day posting rule matter if you track listing velocity, absorption, or inventory trends tied to housing-exposed stocks and REITs.
Two swing factors to watch: how many brokerages actually plug into the platform, and how the MLS lawsuits shake out. Those will determine whether Open Real Estate becomes a go-to feed for market data or just another niche tool in a still-contested marketplace.
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