Compass-Anywhere Megamerger Dodges Antitrust Concerns

The mega-merger between Compass and Anywhere Real Estate, the country’s two largest brokerages by deal volume, has closed.

Compass announced in September it would pay $1.6 billion in stock to acquire Anywhere and acquire its $2.6 billion in debt, valuing the deal at roughly $4.2 billion. The merger creates a combined firm of roughly 340,000 agents that is likely to be a dominant player in the majority of the country’s major residential markets.

The seismic deal was previously forecasted to close in late 2026, but a key regulatory hurdle and special stockholder meetings greenlit the closing months ahead of schedule.

The combined company now dwarfs all other major competitors. The two firms claimed a combined $415 billion in deal volume in 2024, more than the next five largest brokerages combined, according to RealTrends.

The scale of the combined firms prompted Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden to urge the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice in a letter last month to conduct an antitrust review of the deal, which they said could potentially increase broker fees for homebuyers and substantially increase market concentration.

The head of the DOJ’s antitrust division sought an extended review into the deal, but was overruled by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche after Compass enlisted Mike Davis, a lawyer known for advancing mergers and being closely aligned with President Donald Trump, the Wall Street Journal reported in the wake of the closing.

Warren responded to the early closing of the deal with a scathing critique of the lack of scrutiny.

“I warned that a Compass-Anywhere merger could raise costs for homebuyers and sellers by reducing competition,” the senator said in a statement. “Now, instead of addressing the full-blown housing crisis flattening American families, the Trump administration has rubber-stamped a deal that will make things even worse. This is just the latest example of Donald Trump failing to lower costs for Americans.”

A spokesperson for the DOJ told the Journal that the agency “complied with its obligation” and that nothing prevents the agency from taking enforcement action at a later date.

With its increased scale, Compass’ biggest competitor is now likely not any single brokerage, but home search platform Zillow.

Last year, Compass began aggressively promoting its three-phased marketing approach to listings, which keeps listings off the MLS and Zillow as agents first shop them around. Zillow responded by implementing a listing policy that threatened to ban listings not immediately uploaded to its site in an effort to force the hands of brokerages that rely on the reach of Zillow, which counted an average 250 million unique monthly visitors in the third quarter.

Now, Compass may be able to credibly claim that buyers looking for homes need to visit Compass.com if they want to see all the available listings.

In an open letter to agents, Compass CEO Robert Reffkin said he plans to build a “premier destination of brokerage-led sites founded on the core principle of ‘your listing, your lead.’”

“We believe in a future where real estate professionals can fully represent their clients as fiduciaries without being restricted by outside organizations that monetize their hard work,” he added.

Reffkin also clarified that no agent will be mandated to use any Compass’ off-MLS tools, and that Anywhere’s brands, which include Corcoran, Coldwell Banker, Sotheby’s International Realty and Century 21, would maintain their identities.

Industry insiders and observers have aired concerns that the combined firm will make it harder for buyers who aren’t working with an agent with access to Compass’ network to find listings.

A fast resolution

The speedy closing took many in the industry by surprise.

After its announcement on Sept. 22, Compass executives maintained that the deal was likely to close in the second half of 2026. Head of investor relations Soham Bhonsle said that forecast still applied as recently as the company’s third-quarter earnings call.

The deal appeared to be taking shape this week when the companies announced the expiration of the 30-day review period in which the FTC or DOJ can request additional time to conduct a second review. Given the size of the transaction, the companies were required by law to file a premerger notice with the agencies which triggered the initial review period.

But neither agency raised any public concerns.

“I was very surprised [the FTC and DOJ] didn’t have any strong comments,” said Steve Murray, one of the industry’s leading M&A advisors. “Under their own guidelines, they seemed to have enough reason to comment.”

The agencies’ merger guidelines state that a combined market share of over 30 percent can “indicate that a merger’s effect may be to eliminate substantial competition between the merging parties.”

An analysis by the Capital Forum, a regulatory publication, found that a combined Compass-Anywhere brokerage would well exceed that threshold in a number of cities. In 2024, Compass and Anywhere combined for over 80 percent of transaction volume in Manhattan and over 60 percent in San Francisco, according to the analysis.

Historically, the agencies rarely request a second review. Over the last 10 years, the DOJ and FTC have reviewed on average less than 3 percent of filings, according to a 2024 annual report under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.

A number of factors might have helped the deal sail through, according to Kenneth Silverman, an M&A attorney at Olshan Frome Wolosky. The recent government shutdown created a backlog for the agencies, the agencies faced attrition in 2025 and despite hulking predictions, the deal may not pose the threat to competition some think it will.

But he admits he was also taken aback at the news.

“When I heard this merger was ready to go, I did kind of cock my head a little bit and think ‘well, that’s a pretty significant transaction,’” he said.