Looking for exclusive list perks
Beyond data on more than 100,000 home sales in Bright MLS service areas across six states and the District of Columbia, the report states that “brokers will not acknowledge sellers’ profits for using office-only listings.”
“Office Excels takes time to sell and does not have a price advantage in advertising your home right away via MLS,” he said. “On the other hand, market data strongly suggests that by limiting access to information and creating fragmented inventory systems, it could hurt future buyers and sellers.”
Real Estate Technology Strategy and Author Michael Delprete I recently wrote Exclusive list analysis. It should be noted that many borrowers continue to choose such provisions.
“At the end of the day, home sellers are choosing whether it’s good for them, based on the specific situation and the benefits of the program, and in the case. compass55% of new listings opted in to the program in February,” he said. “The compass is not alone. After the headline of Proma, almost everyone. National Association of Realtors (NAR) From large and small brokerage companies to portals, MLSS has economic motivations to fight for the expansion or contraction of exclusive inventory. ”
In March, Compass began offering all brokerage agents access to “come soon.” Compass says the list “protects home sellers from negative insights such as market day-to-day.”
A few weeks later, NAR announced that it remains a clear cooperation policy requiring agents to place lists on MLS within one business day. However, there have been additional options for home sellers. Delay in the marketing exemption period.
Prior to this, NAR provided an office exclusive exemption that explicitly instructs sellers to not list their listing agents to MLS. Office exclusive lists must be submitted to MLS, but will not be distributed to other MLS participants or subscribers.
Pre-market strategies, home price results
In this survey, almost 90% of office monopolies ended up moving to the standard MLS list with either “active” or “coming soon” status before signing contracts.
This suggests that many brokerage companies use Office Exclusives as a temporary pre-marketing tool rather than a long-term sales strategy.
However, properties that start as Office Exclusives tend to take longer to sell.
Research shows that standard listings of bright MLS service areas usually get contracts within three weeks, but those initially sold as office monopolies take an average of two weeks longer. This delay can result from the limited exposure these properties experience before moving to MLS.
One of the most discussed aspects of Office Exclusives is its potential impact on home prices. Some brokerages claim that by personally selling the property, agents can test their pricing strategies and optimize their final selling price. However, bright MLS data suggests that this is not the case.
“When comparing similar homes in similar regions, we find no evidence that office monopolies are being sold beyond the properties listed directly in MLS,” the study states. “Even after controlling for variables such as property location, size, and mediation, this study found no statistical benefits in office monopoly pricing outcomes, which contradicts the concept that private marketing leads to premium pricing.”
Delprete said exclusive inventory is not exclusive forever, adding that “pre-marketing” might be a better label.
“The typical compass exclusive is out of the market for two to three weeks, and 94% of these listings eventually appear on MLS and are on sale,” he said. “This pre-marketing period is similar to a restaurant’s soft opening. This is a test run held before the grand opening, allowing a selection group of guests to try out the restaurant and provide feedback, and fine-tune the operations and menu before it is open to the public.”
Access restrictions, low inventory, securities strategy
With home inventory at record lows, Office Exclusives could further restrict buyers’ access to available properties, research found.
In some ZIP codes within the Bright MLS service area, Office Exclusives constitutes more than 20% of the total list. This means that the majority of homes for sale may be invisible to the majority of buyers who rely on public MLS data.
Buyer access is already a concern in the highly competitive housing market. According to research data from Bright MLS, 70% of real estate agents report working with clients who abandoned their home search due to limited options and a war of bidding.
Despite growing interest in private listing networks, Office Exclusives remains focused on a small number of brokerages. The survey found that one brokerage brand accounted for more than 25% of all office-only lists sold in the past six months, but only three securities represented almost half of such lists.
For most real estate professionals, office monopolies are used sparingly. In fact, there were only three brokerages with office exclusive rights, consisting of more than 10% of the total list. Even among these companies, research shows that the majority of office exclusives eventually moved to public MLS.
Delprete calculated potential revenue benefits after a commission was paid to the agent for each of the 100 agents employed.
These estimates are based on the following assumptions: Average selling prices are $1.06 million (Compass for 2024), average agent production for 6.1 transactions per year (Compass for 2024), average fees of 3%, 35% website lead referral fees, and 82% agent committee split (Compass for 2024).
“If it’s a tally and large scale, these benefits can be worth more than $50 million to $100 million in additional annual revenue,” Delprete said.
The future of office monopoly
The increased use of Office Exclusives raises important questions about the future of the housing market. While some brokerages view private lists as a competitive advantage, others argue that widespread recruitment can lead to fragmented markets where buyers struggle to find and compare homes.
“When private listings become standard, buyers and their agents face a more complicated and inefficient search process,” the survey warns. “Without full MLS participation, market transparency can suffer, making it difficult for consumers to make informed decisions.”
Delprete said another economic benefit comes from a gradual shift in the commission’s split in favor of the brokerage, using access to a large pool of exclusive stocks.
Compass average committee split is 82% for agents and 18% for securities companies.
“Shifting just one percentage point is worth $56 million on a compass and on average costs an agent $1,940 a year,” he said. “For individual agents, two additional transactions per year can be secured through access to exclusive inventory (the side purchase or seller side) will generate an additional revenue of $52,000 on average.
“The three additional deals generate $78,000, which in either case is far more than the $1,940 that an agent could give up from a 1% cut in the committee’s split. This is a truly financial win award for agents and brokerages.”
You can find a complete bright MLS report here.
