Zillow’s NYC brand to adopt new listing standards in June 

The rollout of Zillow's new listing standards is picking up steam. Set to take effect on Zillow and Trulia in May, the company has announced that StreetEasy, a subsidiary serving the vast New York City market, will adopt the policy soon after. 

What's changing: On April 10, Zillow unveiled listing standards intended to reflect the company's interpretation of the Clear Cooperation Policy. Under the portal's new rules, if a listing is being publicly marketed but is not widely available via the MLS, it will not appear on Zillow or Trulia. The company — which has been vocal in its support of the CCP and broad access to listings — says the listing standards ensure transparency and fairness, and represent a core principle: "A listing marketed to some buyers should be marketed to all buyers."

Since announcing the move, Zillow has gained endorsements from major brokerages including eXp, Redfin, NextHome and West USA Realty.

StreetEasy's implementation: Zillow's NYC brand will apply the new standards to properties "subject to an exclusive for sale listing agreement between an agent and a seller," the company wrote in a blog post, noting that "for most agents and teams, nothing changes. They, like us, are committed to doing the right thing for their sellers and buyers." 

And for agents who don't fall into that category? "NYC agents and teams who choose to publicly market listings to some buyers but not all buyers will lose access to programs including StreetEasy Experts, StreetEasy Concierge and Zillow Premier Agent in NYC and will not have access to new listing and agent marketing tools StreetEasy is rolling out soon," the company noted. Their listings will also be excluded from Zillow and Trulia.

Those new tools, the company went on to say, will surface real-time demand data to help "brokerages and agents committed to transparency" market their listings "in new ways" and maximize exposure. StreetEasy is set to implement the policy in June, with more details to come, according to the post.

What StreetEasy had to say: "StreetEasy and Zillow have always advocated for fair and equitable access to real estate information — it's what we were built on," said Caroline Burton, StreetEasy's VP and general manager, in a statement. 

"Sellers deserve to have their listing seen by the widest audience, and buyers deserve to see all of the homes on the market. It's the only way they'll have a fair shot at buying one. Our listing access standards ensure accountability, giving all New Yorkers an equal opportunity at homeownership and enabling agents to better serve their clients. Anything less risks sending the NYC housing market backwards," Burton added.

A response to Compass? StreetEasy's decision could impact another New York-based company: Compass. The brokerage giant has said NYC is one of its top markets for private exclusives — listings that would potentially be barred under the new policy. 

Compass CEO Robert Reffkin has strongly criticized Zillow's listing standards, calling the move "bully behavior" and anticompetitive. Compass, the largest brokerage in the U.S. by sales volume, has also been one of the most aggressive when it comes to pushing office exclusives, arguing that it should be a matter of "seller choice." 

While Burton didn't mention Compass in her blog post, she stated that "listings shouldn't be used as leverage to control who gets to participate in the home-buying process. It's a bait-and-switch move, where agents or brokerages try to get the best of both worlds — dangling a listing to gain more business, only to turn around and market it widely later."