Four of the largest residential brokerage groups in the country just announced they are joining forces to change how property listings are shared across the industry.
This morning, AGNT (eXp Realty and NextHome), HomeServices of America, Keller Williams and Real REMAX Group announced the formation of Open Real Estate, a national initiative to make property listings more accessible across brokerages, multiple listing services (MLSs) and real estate portals.
In an accompanying open letter, the founding companies warn that the growing use of privately marketed listings and fragmented property data could limit buyer access and reduce seller exposure.
Byron Lazine went live with the executives from all four founding members on BAM YouTube:
Here’s who’s involved, how the proposed platform would work, and what it could mean for the industry.
What is Open Real Estate?
Open Real Estate is a proposed national property data-sharing platform that would allow participating brokerages and agents to enter listing information once and distribute it across multiple platforms.
There are four founding members:
- AGNT, Inc.: Parent company of eXp Realty and NextHome
- HomeServices of America
- Keller Williams Realty
- Real REMAX Group
Three additional brokerages are identified as participating members: Brown Harris Stevens, Lamacchia Realty, and Samson Properties.
The goal is to make the housing market more transparent. In an open letter, the founding members state:
“We believe that access, information and transparency should be a benefit, not a barrier to anyone looking to purchase a home. Buyers deserve fair and comprehensive access to available housing information. It’s equally important that sellers have an honest understanding of how their homes are being marketed, who they are reaching, and the opportunities they may gain or sacrifice when deciding how best to market their home for sale. A healthy market is one where sellers can make truly informed decisions, buyers have access to the broadest possible inventory, and success is determined by those who create the most value—not those who control the most information.”
The announcement also shares the four founding principles of Open Real Estate:
- Expand buyer opportunity.
- Empower informed seller decisions.
- Protect data integrity.
- Promote fair competition.
Rather than creating another consumer home search portal, Open Real Estate is intended to make it easier for the industry’s existing platforms to exchange listing data.
The founders are inviting other brokerages to join as participating members at no cost as it works to establish a shared national system for property listing information that works across brokerage brands, local markets, and existing real estate platforms.
How Would Open Real Estate Work?
Today, listing information can be collected, maintained, and distributed differently depending on the brokerage, MLS, or platform involved.
Open Real Estate aims to simplify that process by creating a common infrastructure for listing data.
Under the proposed system:
- Agents and brokerages enter listing information once using standardized data fields.
- Listings are shared with participating members, including brokerages and their agents.
- The information is simultaneously distributed to local MLSs, home search websites, and other authorized industry participants, including appraisers and data services.
Importantly, Open Real Estate is designed to work alongside existing MLSs, not replace them.
The announcement describes MLSs as essential to establishing local listing rules and providing services to real estate professionals.
The Open Letter: Housing Markets Must Remain Open to All
Alongside the announcement, the founding and participating companies released an open letter titled Housing Markets Must Remain Open To All. The letter argues that privately marketed properties and fragmented listing data threaten the transparency that has historically allowed buyers and sellers to participate in a shared marketplace.
It warns that when homes are marketed outside public listing systems, buyers can miss available properties while sellers may reach fewer potential buyers.
The message comes amid an escalating industry debate over private listings, with Compass at the center of several recent legal disputes over MLS cooperation rules. Compass has argued that sellers should have the freedom to choose how and where their homes are marketed, while MLSs have defended rules designed to ensure listings are shared more broadly.
Although Compass isn’t mentioned in the letter, the founders address that same question of seller choice from a different perspective.
They emphasize that homeowners should understand how their properties will be marketed, who they will reach, and what opportunities they might gain or sacrifice by choosing a particular strategy. Rather than arguing that every seller must use the same marketing approach, the letter focuses on giving consumers enough information to understand the benefits and limitations of their options.
The founders are also questioning whether any single company or organization should have the power to control how property information is shared across the industry.
As the letter puts it:
“This effort is bigger than any one company. No single brokerage, technology company, portal, or trade organization should determine the future of housing information for everyone else.”
What’s Next for Open Real Estate?
For now, Open Real Estate is a proposed initiative. The founding companies have not announced a launch date or provided details on how the platform will be governed, which MLSs and portals will participate, or how privately marketed listings will be handled.
Those details will be important as the coalition moves from announcement to implementation.
Brokerages and organizations interested in participating can sign a letter of support, and agents can register for updates.
The bigger question is whether some of the industry’s largest brokerage groups can turn their shared commitment to transparency into a system that works across competing brands and existing MLS networks.
Read the full open letter here.
