The largest home search website in the United States lost access to roughly 43,000 Chicago-area listings on Wednesday, after Midwest Real Estate Data — the regional Multiple Listing Service that powers most of the listings agents, buyers, and sellers see across Chicagoland — suspended its direct feed to Zillow. The move sent thousands of homes vanishing from Zillow in real time during the heart of Chicago’s spring selling season.
It is one of the most consequential local real estate disruptions Chicago has seen in years. And the dispute behind it has been brewing for months.
What Happened on Wednesday
Lisle-based MRED announced Wednesday morning that it had cut off its direct listing feed to Zillow, per The Real Deal Chicago. Before access was cut, there were nearly 5,000 Chicago home listings visible on Zillow. By Wednesday afternoon, the number had dropped to just over 2,000 — a screenshot provided to CNN by brokerage Compass.
MRED accused Zillow of violating its licensing agreement by suppressing display of certain listings. Following the suspension, MRED demanded that Zillow take down its existing inventory of MRED listings, saying continued display of older listings was a violation of its licensing agreement and federal copyright laws, per The Real Deal.
A Zillow spokesperson responded sharply: “If MRED follows through, Chicago sellers will lose access to millions of buyers, Chicago buyers can no longer see all available homes and thousands of independent agents will lose leads.”
A Fight Over “Private Listings”
The dispute centers on what real estate professionals call “private listings” — homes marketed to select buyers before appearing on public-facing websites like Zillow, Realtor.com, or Redfin. Compass, the nation’s largest brokerage, has built a substantial private-listing program designed to give its agents and sellers more control over how and when homes are exposed to the market.
Zillow rolled out new Listing Access Standards in 2025 that effectively penalize listings withheld from public portals. Compass initially sued Zillow over those standards before withdrawing the case. Then in April, Compass and MRED struck a partnership that significantly raised the stakes: MRED opened its MLS and its Private Listing Network to any agent in the country, with Compass agreeing to syndicate its national inventory to MRED, per Real Estate News.
That move turned a regional Chicago dispute into a national fight. Because Compass’s national inventory is now flowing through MRED’s system, MRED argues that Zillow’s blocking of certain Compass listings — even those located outside Illinois — violates MRED’s rules.
Zillow’s Antitrust Lawsuit
Zillow sued MRED and Compass in federal court in Chicago on May 12, alleging the two companies coordinated to violate the Sherman Antitrust Act through a “group boycott,” per HousingWire and The Real Deal. The complaint accuses MRED and Compass of using MRED’s dominance in the Chicago market to force Zillow to display Compass’s private listings nationwide.
According to the suit, MRED demanded on May 6 that Zillow reinstate Compass private listings in states outside MRED’s territory. MLS Grid — the technology provider whose board is chaired by MRED CEO Rebecca Jensen — allegedly threatened the same day to terminate Zillow’s data access. Two days later, Compass terminated all direct listing feed agreements with Zillow nationwide.
Zillow is seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent MRED from terminating its listing feed, treble damages, and attorney fees. The filing characterized MRED’s move as “a naked effort to cut off Zillow’s critical listings supply and kneecap Zillow’s ability to effectively compete with them.”
MRED, for its part, asserts that it “enforces its rules consistently and fairly,” and that Zillow is the party in breach. Jensen said the suspension reflects the MLS’s responsibility to enforce its rules consistently. Compass accounts for about 35% of MRED’s transaction volume, per Zillow’s court filings.
What Chicago Buyers and Sellers Face
The practical result for Chicagoland is a fragmented spring market. Zillow has direct feed agreements with some Chicago brokerages and is expected to continue showing some volume in the region, but it’s missing inventory from Compass International Holdings and its subsidiaries — including @properties Christie’s International Real Estate, one of the city’s largest brokerages.
Zillow, by some measures, draws more monthly traffic than its next two largest competitors, Realtor.com and Redfin, combined. The disappearance of thousands of Chicago listings affects what most local buyers see when they begin their search.
In a public statement, a Compass spokesperson said the company believes sellers should have a choice in how their homes are marketed: “Zillow wants one approach for every seller.”
For Cook County buyers, sellers, and agents, the cleanest workaround is to check multiple sources — including Realtor.com, brokerage websites, and MRED-compliant consumer portals. MRED noted in its statement that “listings will continue to be published on thousands of compliant consumer-facing websites.”
The federal court in Chicago is now weighing Zillow’s request for a preliminary injunction. Until it rules, Chicagoland’s largest home search platform will be running with significantly less inventory than the local market actually contains.
