This August, Compass leadership rolled out what they’re calling their newest playbook, a coordinated push to pull listings off the open market and into their private network. They’re directing their agents to hold back inventory during one of the most active summer seasons New York has seen in years. Let that sink in for a moment: in a city with a severe housing shortage, one brokerage’s leadership is deliberately making fewer homes visible to buyers to boost their own market position. This isn’t a new tactic. It’s a pattern that’s been building for more than a year. But this move is the most aggressive version of it yet, and it’s time to call it what it is: artificial scarcity and gatekeeping to benefit one firm, at the cost of everyone else.
If you’re a Compass agent reading this, I want you to know I’m not writing about you. I’m writing about what’s being asked of you. Most people become real estate agents because of the independence the career offers. The ability to build something that’s yours: your reputation, your client relationships, your business. Compass’ playbook asks agents to subordinate all of that to a corporate strategy designed to benefit the firm, not you. Every time you hold a listing back from the open market, you’re taking a risk with your professional integrity to grow Compass’ position, not your own. And every agent outside the network risks being shut out of homes their clients want to see, not because of anything they did wrong, but because of how Compass is drawing the lines. This is what happens when a brokerage’s growth strategy comes at the expense of the agents doing the actual work. You deserve better than that.
New York City has a housing crisis. Only about one in three New Yorkers own their home (roughly half the national rate) and renters here put more of their income toward housing than renters in any other state. Supply is already dangerously tight. Against that backdrop, artificially restricting homes that would otherwise be available is an especially harmful business strategy.
Here’s how it works. When Compass funnels listings into its private network, they become visible only to buyers already working with a Compass agent. Hiding listings from the open market eliminates the two things that protect both sides of a transaction: open competition and price transparency. Buyers lose the ability to see the complete picture, and miss out on homes that might be perfect for them. Sellers lose the full benefit of buyers competing for their home. The data is clear: homes sold off-market consistently trade for less than comparable homes given full public exposure. And what’s left is a system that steers both parties toward whatever outcome pays Compass most, including double-ended deals where the brokerage takes both commissions. That’s taking advantage of clients.
To be clear about where StreetEasy stands, there’s nothing wrong with a pre-market window. Done right, with full public visibility, it can help buyers and sellers alike. What’s indefensible is using that window to wall off access. It’s turning a “coming soon” into a “coming soon, but only if you work with Compass.” Compass says a home should be marketed like a Ferrari, all exclusivity and scarcity. But a house is not a luxury car. It’s a necessity, the largest purchase most families ever make, and a key driver of generational wealth. Hiding them from buyers and bragging about that to shareholders isn’t acceptable, especially in a market like New York, where only about 1 in 7 home listings are affordable to the typical buyer.
This gatekeeping is fuel for fair housing concerns, too. How could you possibly ensure equal opportunity when access to a home depends on which brokerage you happen to call rather than what you can afford or how qualified you are, and when agents and brokerages get to decide who sees what homes in what neighborhoods? Not every buyer has the same networks and connections, especially first-time buyers who struggle the most.
New York has been down the closed-market road before, and it did not serve New Yorkers well. Two decades ago, finding a home here meant calling a broker and hoping they would call you back. There was no single place to see what was for sale, and each firm guarded its listings as a private asset. In 2006, StreetEasy changed that, built on a simple belief that open markets open doors. We gathered the city’s scattered listings into one searchable place and paired them with the information that had always been hardest to get, from asking prices and price history to past sales and days on market, so a buyer in Queens and a seller in Brooklyn could finally see the same market at the same time. That openness is why StreetEasy became the platform New Yorkers trust most to find a home. We’re not going back.
The barriers to building a real estate career in this city are already high enough. Agents grow by reaching the broadest possible audience, winning clients on the strength of their expertise, building strong relationships across brokerages, and building a personal brand that follows them throughout their career. An open market is what makes that possible, and what creates the data that gives agents a full picture of the market that powers their expertise. That’s why StreetEasy is committed to it, and why we’re building tools and creating partnerships to help agents compete and grow on their own terms. Hiding your listings inside a private network hides your personal brand there, too. You’re growing their business instead of yours. That’s why they are trying so hard to convince you it’s a good thing for your clients, even though study after study shows otherwise.
Every agent in this city is facing a choice right now: build your business on your own terms in an open market where your reputation grows with every deal, your clients get the full picture and the best agent wins. Or let it fragment into something that serves no one but the biggest firms. Your reputation, your clients, your career all depend on a market worth competing in. StreetEasy will be there to support you every step of the way.
