The Exclusive Inventory Power Play

/
 
 

While the public debate swirls around NAR’s Clear Cooperation Policy, behind the scenes Compass has steadily built up an exclusive inventory of over 7,700 listings.

Why it matters: Exclusive inventory represents a way for agents and brokerages to exert more control over their listings, and has the potential to materially shift existing power dynamics across the industry.

  • Compass has more than doubled the number of its Private Exclusive listings over the past seven months – up from 2,500 in July 2024 to over 6,000 in February 2025.
     

  • Private exclusive listings (as opposed to Coming Soon) are not publicly advertised; a consumer needs to connect with a Compass agent for access.

 
 

Private Exclusives account for roughly 30 percent of all Compass listings; including another 1,400 Coming Soon listings brings that to 35 percent.

  • Underlying this push is Compass’s 3-Phased Marketing Strategy, which encourages homeowners to start with a Private Exclusive before listing on the MLS.
     

  • And it appears to be resonating with agents and consumers: so far, 55 percent of all new listings in February started as a Private Exclusive or Coming Soon. 

 
 

There are broad implications to the rise of exclusive inventory – interestingly reminiscent of the evolution of video streaming.

  • There was a time when Netflix, containing nearly all streaming content, was the only game in town – but more recently, other content creators, like Disney and Apple, have launched their own streaming platforms.
     

  • On the one hand, it’s more time-consuming and expensive for consumers to visit and pay multiple services to get what they want; the one-stop-shop marketplace is gone.
     

  • But on the other hand, consumers now have a choice, and that has spurred platform innovation and billions of dollars in content creation.

Yes, but: video streaming is not real estate, I get it, but it’s an interesting thought experiment.

  • Exclusive inventory is the norm overseas: in Australia, #2 portal Domain has advertised exclusive content (or at least a first look at exclusive content).

Dig deeper: In 2021 I wrote about exclusive content being the Top Threat to Real Estate Portals.

The bottom line: There’s a lot of talk on conference stages and op-eds, but Compass has focused on action by steadily building up a large supply of exclusive inventory.

  • Exclusive content has the potential to materially shift existing power dynamics across the industry – it challenges the fundamental assumptions of an open marketplace, but also sets the stage for further innovation.
     

  • Regardless of which side you’re on, the rise of exclusive content is inarguably an industry needle-mover, and things are about to get really interesting.

Note: The data in this article is all publicly available on Compass.com. I’d like to thank Max Mitchell and my friends at Supergood for their help with the data collection.