New Hampshire real estate leaders are concerned that the ongoing national battle over private listings could lead to a splintered, European-style home listing system dominated by large brokerage firms, not cooperative Multiple Listing Services.

So far, the raging debate over private listings – which has included a dizzying array of lawsuits, alliances among brokerages, listing portals and MLS firms, and threats by some states to intervene in the fight – has led to only modest changes in New Hampshire.

Among those changes is Prime MLS’s recent creation of a new “coming soon” rule that allows area agents to advertise, though not show, soon-to-be-available homes for sale for 10 days before they must list the properties on the MLS.

Meanwhile, some local Compass-affiliated real estate firms in New Hampshire are starting to market “Compass private exclusives” to local consumers, according to sources, with at least one firm touting its private-listing services on its website.

But some industry leaders think it’s only a matter of time before the private “listing war,” as some have begun to call it, intensifies in New Hampshire.

And whether the brouhaha leads to major or merely modest changes remains to be seen.

‘The Industry Is Very Divided’

“The issue has really exploded in just the last six weeks or so,” said Chad Jacobson, chief executive of Prime MLS, the home listing service covering New Hampshire and Vermont, plus parts of Maine and Massachusetts.

“This is a huge topic right now,” agreed Adam Dow, head of the Dow Realty Group-Keller Williams Coastal, Lakes & Mountains. “The industry is very divided.”

At the heart of the current brawl is Compass Inc., the nation’s largest real estate brokerage, whose CEO is leading the charge to broaden the use of private listings – also known as pocket listings – across the country.

Private listings have been around for decades, a service usually provided to ultra-rich individuals and celebrities who want to keep the sale of their homes private and off of local MLS sites.

Because such transactions are considered rare, private listings have been generally tolerated and accommodated by the industry, even though National Association of Realtors and the rules of most MLSs have long required members to publicly list sales as soon as they start marketing them.

But Compass CEO Robert Reffkin, fresh off his firm’s recent $1.6 billion acquisition of rival brokerage brand Anywhere Real Estate, has been aggressively expanding his firm’s new “Compass private exclusives” – and hitting back against any realty firm or MLS that gets in his way, from Zillow to Seattle’s Northwest MLS.

Compass’ Move Prompts Rivals

Adamantly and repeatedly, Reffkin has argued that his firm’s private listings are all about privacy and giving consumers more control over real estate transactions.

And how would they achieve those goals? By tapping into Compass’s extensive nationwide network of buyer and seller agents and via its exclusive listing partnership with Redfin, a listings portal and brokerage that once opposed Reffkin’s expanded private-listing vision before its acquisition by mortgage giant Rocket.

Critics counter that Compass’s real goal is simply to use its industry muscle to corner the market, corralling consumers into the firm’s exclusive sales network and keeping listings out of public view on MLS sites.

As critics see it, the net result of Compass’s exclusive services is fewer people viewing listings, fewer purchase offers and ultimately lower home prices for sellers. It’s all about transparency, critics contend.

Still, Compass’s controversial moves have prompted previous critics and others to launch their own versions of exclusive (or semi-exclusive) listing programs, such as listings portal Zillow’s new “Zillow Preview,” which launched this spring in partnership with six of Compass’ rivals.

Meanwhile, some regional multiple listing services have suggested they may try to launch a national MLS to effectively counter Compass and other firms’ emerging exclusive listing networks.

“This entire mess we’re in was created by Compass,” said a frustrated Mark Ashley, a broker and manager at Maxfield Real Estate in Center Harbor. “They’re putting lipstick on a pig and saying it’s all for the consumer. But it’s not for the consumer. This is a fabricated issue that’s become a real big mess for the entire industry.”

To date, the listing fight hasn’t hit New Hampshire with full force, if only because Compass doesn’t have a major presence in the Granite State.

But Ashley said modest listing changes are indeed under way in New Hampshire, such as Prime MLS’s recent decision to establish a new “coming soon” rule.

Ashley, whose firm is an independent brokerage, praised Prime MLS’s new rule as a good compromise that’s helped to defuse the private-listing debate in New Hampshire.

Europe Seen as Worst-Case Scenario

But he expressed concern that Prime MLS’s rule may not be enough to stop potential changes down the road.

“I’m worried that this entire [controversy] is going to fracture the MLS system across the country,” he said.

A worst-case scenario: America’s MLS-focused system gradually transforming into a variation of Europe’s splintered listing model, in which agents and potential buyers must sift through multiple exclusive listing sites hosted by brokerage firms to see what homes are for sale.

“Europe has a very fractured system,” said Ashley. “Consumers have to go to many [brokerage and portal] sites to find what they want.”

Asked if the U.S. was moving toward a segmented European-style listing model, Prime MLS’s Jacobson said: “For the sake of the consumer, I really hope not.”

Jacobson said Prime MLS recently introduced its “coming soon” rule partly to avert passionate debate – and potential calls for radical actions – tied to private listings.

“We read the tea leaves pretty well and got ahead of the curve,” Jacobson said of the new “Coming Soon” feature. “The rule allows an agent to take the temperature of the market and maybe tee-up a potential buyer, but it still requires them to list a sale [on Prime MLS] before showing a property.”

Dow questioned whether Prime MLS’s compromise rule will ease the listings debate much.

“It’s a good rule, but it doesn’t solve the problem,” said Dow. “There’s just a lot of moving parts to this controversy.”

Wolfeboro, Bedford Brokerages Opt Out

Dow’s Wolfeboro-based firm is associated with Keller Williams, which has partnered with Zillow on its new “Zillow Preview” service.

But Dow said KW doesn’t require his firm to participate in the program – and he’s opted not to do so.

While there’s a time and place for occasional private listings, they shouldn’t become the norm, Dow said.

In general, listings should be for the benefit of consumers, not listing agents and their firms, and listings should reach the maximum number of people in order to generate optimum prices for consumers, he said.

“I fear the consumer gets hurt if [private listings] are used as a tool for agents and for companies to recruit people into their exclusive networks,” said Dow.

Chris Masiello, chairman of the Bedford-based Masiello Group, the largest real estate brokerage in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont, agreed that the best policy for consumers is to get their listings out to the widest number of people.

“The fundamental question is: what’s in the consumer’s best interest?” he said. “Why choose limited [listing] networks over the overall bigger market?”

The Masiello Group is affiliated with Better Homes and Gardens, which is now part of Compass as a result of its takeover of Anywhere Real Estate earlier this year.

Masiello said that, as of right now, taking part in private exclusives is an option for his firm – and his preference is not to participate in such a program.

As for the future of listings in general, Masiello said he doesn’t see the U.S. heading toward the European model, if only because he thinks American consumers would probably revolt en masse if regularly denied full rosters of homes for sale.

But he does see the listing debate pushing the market toward more industry consolidations and fewer sales agents in general.

“Trust me, there’s more to come,” he said.