Jealous agents, Zillow, and News Corp’s Realtor.com are behind this, and it's profit, not concern for low-income housing consumers that's their motivating force
/
“But the poor! Think about the poor!”
Realtor.com:
Connecticut Becomes Latest State To Restrict Private Listings
June 2, 2026
I don’t have dog in this fight, because the “private listings I’m aware of in Greenwich, few in number, involve very, very expensive houses owned by very private billionaires, and the availability of such houses is circulated among a few select agents; I am not in that circle, and I don’t care. I do care, however, simply because it annoys me, about politicians passing legislation for the benefit of well-heeled lobbyists while masking their actions behind a claimed concern for the general welfare of everyone.
Here’s Realtor.com’s article:
Gov. Ned Lamont signed SB 340 on May 27. The bill requires residential properties of up to four units to be openly marketed and publicly accessible to a multiple listing service or publicly available electronic listing service, unless the seller or landlord explicitly opts out.
The new law is aimed at private or "pocket" listings—or marketing a property to an exclusive group of brokers or prospective buyers, before the broader public gets a chance. Aimed at consumer disclosure, the bill threatens a fine of up to $5,000 or suspension of a real estate professional's license.
The new law takes effect on Oct. 1.
[And the money quote: real estate agents.]
State Sen. Tony Hwang, ranking member of the state legislature's Insurance and Real Estate Committee, was one of the bill's sponsors. Hwang said [admitted — ED] last month that the bill responds to concerns from real estate agents in the state.
"These are practical, common-sense [EVERY new law that expands the power of the state or ads another regulatory burden these days, from gun control to the sale of used toothbrushes, is always described as “common sense” — never known one that actually was — ED] updates that support transparency, professionalism, and consumer confidence in Connecticut's housing market," Hwang, a Republican, said.
Meanwhile, the New York state Senate also advanced a similar bill on Tuesday, which would require listings to be publicly marketed on platforms accessible to the general public.
The New York bill has already passed the state Assembly, meaning it only needs Gov. Kathy Hochul's signature to become law.
This follows a similar ban on private listings in Washington, which was signed earlier this year.
“Continued controversy” [Translation: Zillow and Realtor.com want a piece of the action
Private listings have engendered controversy in the real estate world. Fair housing advocates say they raise discrimination concerns. At least one study from Bright MLS found private listings take longer to sell and don't guarantee more money.
As well, a study from Zillow found the sales price of such private listings was 1.3% less than comparable sales on the MLS, costing the seller an average of $4,230 per sale.
(Realtor.com® recently struck an agreement with Zillow to show preview listings from brokers who participate in Zillow’s preview program, in an effort to boost market transparency.)
[“Boost market transparency” Uh huh. Try “desire for revenue” – Ed]
"In today's constrained housing market, prospective buyers and tenants, including those using housing vouchers, may never have the opportunity to make an offer on a property for sale or lease simply because they were unaware it was available," the Connecticut Realtors said in a statement backing the bill.
If you think Connecticut real estate agents are actually miffed that they’re missing out on commissions from Setion 8 housing rentals and aren’t even thinking about lost commissions on mansion sales, I have a 3-bedroom apartment I can rent you, located directly under the Brooklyn Bridge.
From AI:
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) owns the Realtor.com domain name and licenses its trademark to the site, but does not own or operate the company.
The site is operated by Move, Inc., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corp. Move, Inc. acquired the rights to run the portal in 1996 and was purchased by News Corp in 2014.
Deep Dive
If you’re interested, and you’re almost certainly not, there’s a very well written history of how the National Association of Realtors “voluntarily” gave up control of Realtor.com, to a crooked stock manipulator and eventually, News Corp.:
Why NAR Doesn't Own Realtor.com: The 1996 Deal That Shaped American Real Estate
And heres still more information you can’t use, but which I find interesting: Realtor.com is owned by News Corp, which in turn is owned/controlled by the Murdochs, who also own the NY Post (and Fox News, and more), which explains why the Post so frequently republishes Realtor.com articles, replete with links back to Realtor.com. I found seven such links in this NY Post/Realtor.com article on NY State’s enactment of one of these private listing bans.
