It’s been over a year since Robert Reffkin launched his public campaign against the National Association of Realtors’ Clear Cooperation Policy.
In the time since, the Compass CEO has unveiled the brokerage’s own private-listing platform, sued real estate portal leader Zillow over its private-listing ban, and sought to acquire a giant conglomerate of brokerage brands that had been on the opposite side of the listing debate.
What he hasn’t been able to do is persuade more real estate professionals outside of Compass to abandon the policy, new Intel survey results suggest.
Support for Clear Cooperation among agent respondents to the Intel Index survey rose from 63 percent in November to 68 percent in recent days, even as opposition to the policy intensified within the class of large, non-franchising brokerage companies that includes Compass itself.
The diverging results suggest that — among the engaged Inman audience, at least — the Compass campaign against MLS listing requirements has partly served to crystalize the stakes for many agents at franchise and indie brokerages.
And the data paints a stark image of an industry that has become increasingly entrenched within opposing camps whose interests are increasingly unaligned on this central issue.
How the debate proceeds now that Compass is moving to acquire Anywhere remains an open question.
Read the full report to see how industry opinion on this issue has evolved over time — including an emerging consensus on consumer impact that transcends brokerage type.
Stakes for the industry
When Intel first asked agents about Clear Cooperation nearly a year ago, fault lines were already emerging across brokerage types.
- 64 percent of agent respondents at franchise brokerages in November said they believed Clear Cooperation is beneficial to the industry, and 66 percent of private indie agent respondents said the same.
- Agents at publicly traded, non-franchising brokerage companies — a category that includes Compass but also large, fast-growing companies like eXp Realty and the Real Brokerage — mostly favored the policy at the time as well, although only 56 percent believed the policy was good for the industry.
Since then, the split has only accelerated.
Charts by Daniel Houston
- By Intel’s most recent survey in September, at least 74 percent of agent respondents from franchise and private indie brokerages said the industry benefited from Clear Cooperation.
- Even as support rose within this brokerage class, fewer than half of respondents from publicly traded, non-franchising brokerages said in September that the policy benefited the industry. And explicit opposition rose in this group from 35 percent in November to 44 percent in September.
The causes for this may be varied. On the one hand, Compass’ investments in private-listing platforms could be sending a clear signal to its own agents that ending Clear Cooperation would be in their direct interest. On the other, agents may be naturally funneling into and out of brokerages over time based at least in part on their private-listings stance as part of normal recruiting.
But even as the industry becomes more polarized on whether the policy works for brokerages, a consensus appears to be growing on the question of what’s best for their clients.
What’s right for consumers?
A big part of Reffkin’s pitch in the summer of 2024 was that Clear Cooperation’s strict requirement that homes be listed on the MLS within 24 hours of public marketing didn’t serve the interests of homeowners.
And in November, agents at the large non-franchising companies agreed.
- At that time last year, only 40 percent of agent respondents at publicly traded, non-franchising brokerages said that Clear Cooperation was good for consumers. A greater number — 50 percent — said the policy was bad for clients.
But perhaps surprisingly, like agents in other brokerages, these agents might be increasingly open to arguments that requiring MLS listing is to the advantage of most clients.
- By September’s survey, 47 percent of agent respondents at these brokerages believed consumers benefited from this industry policy, while only 44 percent said it hurt clients.
Agents at franchise brokerages and indies also saw their support for the policy increase at least partly on the grounds that it was good for clients.
- The share of agent respondents who believe Clear Cooperation is beneficial to clients rose from 62 percent to 72 percent at franchise brokerages and from 59 percent to 75 percent at private indies, respectively, across the two surveys.
In next week’s report, Intel will go deeper into the survey results to discuss how agents and brokerage leaders view the effectiveness of private listings today — and what their first move would be if Clear Cooperation were to be repealed tomorrow.
Methodology notes: This month’s Inman Intel Index survey ran from Sept. 18 to Oct. 1, 2025, and received 545 responses. The entire Inman reader community was invited to participate, and a rotating, randomized selection of community members was prompted to participate by email. Users responded to a series of questions related to their self-identified corner of the real estate industry — including real estate agents, brokerage leaders, lenders and proptech entrepreneurs. Results reflect the opinions of the engaged Inman community, which may not always match those of the broader real estate industry. This survey is conducted monthly.
