Zillow rejected the Real Estate Board of New York’s (REBNY) recently launched single, centralized syndication feed, the Residential Listing Service (RLS). But REBNY has found a partner in Zillow’s biggest competitor — realtor.com.
Today, realtor.com operator Move Inc. announced that it would be the first national portal to receive a direct syndicated feed from REBNY, which includes the residential for-sale and rental listings from more than 600 leading New York City residential brokerage firms.
The news comes after a power struggle over real estate listings in the Big Apple came to a head last week when at least seven big New York City brokers cut off their listings to StreetEasy and Zillow Group websites, making good on their threat to do so if Zillow Group did not agree to certain licensing terms.
“Since we entered the New York market nearly three years ago, we have been fortunate to work with the New York City real estate community to display the majority of the local listings to the growing number of consumers who have made realtor.com the fastest growing website in the New York City metro,” said Ray Picard, realtor.com executive vice president of sales.
“This agreement with REBNY will build on realtor.com’s growing presence in New York, allowing us to enhance the consumer experience in one of the world’s largest real estate markets, and provide more opportunities for agents to engage with the millions of homebuyers and sellers who rely on realtor.com for the most up-to-date and comprehensive listing data.”
Zillow Group has said it will not take the RLS feed, citing content licensing terms the company says would “degrade and limit the consumer experience.”
In March, Zillow Group’s rollout of its Premier Agent program for the first time on StreetEasy, its New York listings site, prompted objections from some New York City brokers who opposed lead forms next to their listings that went to paid agent advertisers — an experience listing agents and brokers in the rest of the country have mostly gotten used to, if sometimes grudgingly.
StreetEasy and Zillow Group have said this type of advertising benefits consumers by encouraging buyers to use agents who exclusively represent their interests, rather than working directly with a listing agent.
“The addition of realtor.com to RLS syndication is a significant step in our ongoing efforts to increase the visibility and reach of New York City’s most accurate and consistent listing information to consumers,” said John Banks, REBNY President. “The homebuyers, sellers, and renters who utilize realtor.com’s nationally recognized digital tools will have greater access to real time listing information provided by the RLS.”
REBNY represents more than 17,000 real estate professionals in New York City.
