Antitrust actions target real estate listing monopolies
New legal actions against Compass and Zillow follow a settlement between Redfin and the FTC over rental syndication agreements.
The real estate technology sector is facing a wave of antitrust scrutiny as regulators and private litigants target practices that allegedly manipulate housing inventory and pricing. This week, developments moved on two fronts: the resolution of an FTC case involving Zillow and Redfin, and the filing of a class-action lawsuit against Compass regarding its influence over Manhattan rental listings.
Zillow and Redfin settle federal antitrust case
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Zillow have reached a settlement to end a case concerning an anticompetitive 2025 partnership with Redfin. According to The Verge, the FTC originally alleged that Zillow paid Redfin to syndicate its listings while simultaneously securing promises from Redfin to terminate its own advertising contracts and refrain from competing for multifamily listings.
The resulting settlement requires Redfin to restart its independent rental listings advertising business, which it had previously wound down as part of the deal. While Redfin may continue to syndicate Zillow’s listings, it must do so without the anticompetitive restraints found in the original agreement. Daniel Guarnera, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, stated that the settlement provides “better, quicker, more certain results for both renters and property management companies” than a trial would have offered.
The settlement was also approved by the state attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, New York, Virginia, and Washington. This resolution follows other recent enforcement actions under the Trump administration against entities like Live Nation-Ticketmaster and RealPage.
Class action alleges Compass is engineering a supply shock
In New York City, two renters, Peter Castaneda and Haley Gelfand, have filed a class-action complaint against the brokerage firm Compass. The lawsuit alleges that Compass has systematically delisted rental units from free platforms like Zillow to create an artificial “supply shock” that drives up rents.
The plaintiffs argue that Compass maintains a near-monopoly in Manhattan, claiming 2025 data shows the company controls over 80 percent of available rental listings in the borough. The complaint asserts this dominance allows Compass to dictate pricing for roughly 80 percent of those units. According to the filing, Compass allegedly utilizes a “playbook” that involves hiding inventory from public view to force renters toward its own agents, thereby increasing revenue per transaction and boosting stock prices.
In response to these mass-delistings earlier this year, Zillow established new standards to exclude private listings from appearing on its sites. This move prompted Compass to file an antitrust suit against Zillow, which it later voluntarily dismissed in March after a judge ruled the company was unlikely to succeed because consumers typically research across multiple platforms.
Impact on NYC rental prices
The plaintiffs cite specific price spikes as evidence of these practices:
- Inventory Drop: Available rental units across New York City fell by 40 percent in the past year.
- Price Surges: Market reports indicate a 3 percent rent increase in June, which doubled to a 6 percent increase in July as inventory continued to decline through August.
- Individual Impact: Castaneda reported signing a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Manhattan for $5,270 in August, noting the median asking price had been $4,390 just one month prior.
The complaint alleges that Compass’s actions interfere with algorithms used by rental communities—including RealPage—which set prices based on supply and demand data pulled from platforms like Zillow and StreetEasy.
Regulatory and legal pushback
While the class-action suit seeks to force Compass to disgorge profits and pay damages, local and federal authorities are also investigating. US Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Ma.) is leading a probe into whether Compass is creating a “two-tiered housing market” where exclusive access to data is reserved for insiders.
Zillow’s spokesperson defended the company’s stance, stating that hiding listings from public platforms forces consumers to pay the price and gives one brokerage the power to squeeze the NYC market. The spokesperson noted that StreetEasy exists specifically to provide renters with access to every available home.
Attorney Blake Hunter Yagman, representing the plaintiffs, stated that when an industry leader “chokes off supply of an essential good or service,” the consequences are severe for those facing a housing crisis. The lawsuit seeks an injunction to block Compass from hiding listings and aims to represent all New York City renters who leased non-rent stabilized, multifamily units from August 1, 2026, onward.