B
enzinga and Yahoo Finance may earn commissions through links in this article. A contentious debate is brewing between Zillow, the nation's largest residential listings site, and Homes.com over "pocket listings" – homes marketed to a select group of buyers exclusively. In response, Zillow has announced it will ban these private listings from its website starting May, escalating tensions within the real estate industry.

    Zillow's new policy states that any listing not publicly available on multi-listing services (MLS) and widely advertised online won't be published on their site. This move targets sellers who list homes on social media or brokerage websites without making them accessible to a broader audience. Typically, pocket listings are relisted more widely if they don't sell initially.

    The Clear Cooperation Policy, which requires listing on MLS within a day of public marketing, has been a source of debate in the industry. Zillow and Redfin support this requirement for transparency and wider access to potential buyers, potentially leading to higher sale prices.