Zillow’s standoff with the Chicago area multiple listing service remains in limbo this month after the MLS warned last year that listings on the public home search website could be interrupted in January.
Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED), the MLS operator for Chicago and the surrounding area, sent a message to subscribers in December saying that Zillow officials had been telling brokerages they were “anticipating disruptions to listings flowing to Zillow via MRED beginning in the first week of January,” and asking the brokerages to sign direct listing feeds.
But so far, it appears Zillow hasn’t started enforcing its listing standards in MRED’s coverage area, according to people familiar with the matter, and Zillow’s access to listings in the region appears uninterrupted.
The long-brewing stalemate stems from Zillow’s updated listings standards designed to curb the growth of brokerage-exclusive listings nationwide. The rules also affect MRED’s Private Listing Network, which allows sellers to show listings to agents in the Chicago area market and their clients, but not to the broader public. Agents who put a listing on the private market and then move to public — a common tactic for testing prices and part of Compass’ three-phased marketing strategy — would receive a warning, and eventually have those listings blocked from appearing on Zillow.
Even while Zillow has enforced its listing standards around the country, it has kept the status quo in Chicago, as it has been working with MRED to resolve the impasse, Zillow previously told The Real Deal. MRED has dug in on defending the private network and said that Zillow could face retaliation, including being cut off from the MLS’ listing feed, for enforcing its standards.
The standoff also coincides with changes that allow MRED agents to hide details like price history and days on market when they’re displayed on public portals like Zillow, based on a message MRED sent to some subscribers obtained by The Real Deal.
In the message from 2025, MRED said it was adding new display permissions for agents when they put a listing into the MLS, which would begin in January. Notably, the MLS added two new fields allowing agents to hide price history and time on market from the public feeds that Zillow and other portals receive their data from.
The new options “enable [MRED’s] brokers and their sellers to have more control over their listings and how they are displayed online,” MRED wrote in the email.
MRED and Zillow did not respond to requests for comment.
Zillow released an analysis late last year claiming MRED’s private network reinforces “digital redlining,” finding that homes in Chicago’s majority-white neighborhoods were more than twice as likely to be listed on the private platform, compared to those in majority non-white areas. The portal giant argued private listings disadvantage buyers and threaten market transparency.MRED fired back, accusing Zillow of using fair housing concerns to mask a strategic play to protect its own revenue by ensuring all listings hit its public site. The MLS defended its Private Listing Network as a necessary option for sellers requiring privacy during sensitive life events — such as divorce or illness — and pointed to internal data showing private listings sell faster and for a higher percentage of their asking price.