T
he Park City Board of Realtors and MLS have announced they will adopt the updated Clear Cooperation Policy, which allows sellers to temporarily hold off on publicly marketing their homes. The policy requires homes to be listed on the MLS within a day of being publicly marketed, but the delayed marketing option provides flexibility for those seeking higher privacy levels. According to Jamie Johnson, CEO of the Park City association and MLS, this approach promotes an open marketplace while acknowledging sellers' need for discretion.

    The update comes after the National Association of Realtors maintained the policy with an addition allowing sellers to keep their homes off the Internet Data Exchange (IDX) feed. The IDX feed displays MLS property listings on real estate agent websites and home search sites like Zillow and Realtor.com. The Department of Justice's determination that Clear Cooperation is not inherently anti-competitive eased concerns about potential legal action.

    The Park City association believes this approach strikes a fair balance between buyer access to inventory and sellers' desire for discretion. Maverick Bolger, president of the PCBR Board of Directors, stated that buyer clients deserve full access to available listings through their brokers, while sellers can now market their homes privately yet efficiently.

    The Park City MLS is working on implementing the policy changes in its systems and will notify members when they are ready. However, the industry continues to grapple with the implications of the new policy, with major players like Zillow and Redfin restricting listings that are publicly marketed but not widely available via the MLS.