Selling with one agent on both sides cost home sellers $1.49 billion over three years

Rhea-AI Summary

Zillow (NASDAQ:Z) released research showing U.S. home sellers in same-agent dual agency deals were estimated to lose $1.49 billion from 2023–2025, while off-MLS listings cost sellers $1.36 billion, typically 1.3% or about $4,230 less than comparable MLS-listed homes.

News Market Reaction – ZG

-2.62%

-2.62% Session close to close

In the May 14 session, ZG declined 2.62%, reflecting a moderate negative market reaction.

Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.

Market Context

This announcement highlights Zillow’s use of over 15 million transactions from 2023–2025 to quantify...

Analysis

This announcement highlights Zillow’s use of over 15 million transactions from 2023–2025 to quantify seller losses from dual agency and off-MLS listings, totaling $1.49 billion and $1.36 billion respectively. It reinforces Zillow’s positioning around transparency and data-driven insights, complementing recent market reports and earnings updates. Investors may monitor how such analyses shape industry practices, regulatory discussions, and engagement with Zillow’s platforms over time.

Key Figures

Dual-agency seller loss: $1.49 billion Off-MLS seller loss: $1.36 billion Off-MLS price gap: 1.3% +5 more

8 metrics

Dual-agency seller loss $1.49 billion Combined loss to sellers over three years in same-agent dual agency deals

Off-MLS seller loss $1.36 billion Combined loss to sellers over three years for off-MLS listings

Off-MLS price gap 1.3% Typical discount versus comparable homes listed on MLS

Loss per dual-agency home $2,165 Estimated median loss per seller in dual-agency transactions

Loss per off-MLS home $4,230 Typical loss per off-MLS sale versus MLS-listed homes

Lower-tier seller loss 2.2% Typical discount for lower price tier off-MLS sellers vs MLS

Communities of color loss 1.9% Typical penalty in majority-POC neighborhoods vs 1.1% in white areas

Transactions analyzed 15 million+ Home sales from 2023–2025 underlying Zillow’s analysis

Historical Context

5 past events · Latest: May 06 (Positive)

Pattern 5 events

Date	Event	Sentiment	24h Move	Catalyst
May 06	Q1 2026 earnings	Positive	-1.8%	Reported higher Q1 revenue, positive net income and strong Adjusted EBITDA.
May 06	Market report	Neutral	+2.2%	April report on rising inventory and stalled sales amid higher mortgage rates.
May 05	Platform partnership	Positive	+2.2%	Collaboration with Realtor.com to share Preview listings nationwide.
Apr 23	Market dynamics	Neutral	-3.4%	Analysis of bifurcated market where some homes sell quickly and others linger.
Apr 21	Rent trends report	Neutral	-2.7%	Report on slowing rent growth and increased savings for renters nationally.

24h Move is the share-price change in the day after each event; other market factors may also have contributed.

Pattern Detected

Recent Zillow news, including strong Q1 results and multiple housing-market reports, has often been met with modest single-day price moves, with occasional negative reactions even to seemingly constructive updates.

Recent Company History

Over the past month, Zillow has reported several notable updates. On May 6, 2026, Q1 results showed revenue of $708M, net income of $46M and Adjusted EBITDA of $182M, yet the stock fell 1.76%. Multiple housing market analyses in April and May, covering stalled sales, renter relief and fast-selling homes, saw mixed reactions between about -3.39% and +2.16%. Today’s research-driven news continues that pattern of frequent data releases shaping Zillow’s role as a housing market information provider.

Key Terms

dual agency, multiple listing service (mls), zestimate, zillow home value index, +4 more

8 terms

dual agency financial

"Home sellers in same-agent dual agency transactions — where one agent represented both buyer"

Dual agency occurs when the same advisor, broker, or firm represents two parties with opposing interests in a transaction—such as a seller and a buyer, or a company and its investor. It matters to investors because one person balancing both sides can create conflicts of interest that may affect price, disclosure, or the fairness of deal terms; think of it like a referee who is also coaching one of the teams, making impartial judgment harder.

multiple listing service (mls) technical

"not on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) — lost nearly as much."

A multiple listing service (MLS) is a shared database that collects and displays securities available for trading across different brokerages or exchanges, like a common catalog that shows what’s for sale, at what price, and by whom. For investors it matters because MLS-type systems improve transparency, help buyers find the best price and increase the pool of potential sellers and buyers, which can lower trading costs and boost liquidity.

zestimate technical

"Zillow started with the Zestimate a full three months prior to sale."

An online automated estimate of a residential property's current market value calculated from public records, user-submitted details, and algorithmic models. Think of it like a quick, computerized appraisal or a car's Kelley Blue Book price: it gives a fast snapshot of what a house might sell for. Investors use it as a preliminary signal of housing market trends, comparable values and demand, but it should be checked against professional appraisals and local knowledge.

zillow home value index technical

"using movements in the Zillow Home Value Index at the ZIP code level."

Zillow Home Value Index is Zillow’s smoothed, algorithm-based estimate of the typical single-family home value for a neighborhood, city, or metro area that blends recent sales and listing data while reducing short-term swings. Investors use it as a quick indicator of housing market trends—like a rolling average price tag—because shifts can signal changing demand, mortgage and credit risk, local consumer wealth, and potential impacts on real estate returns.

foreclosure sales financial

"Zillow excluded new construction homes, foreclosure sales, auction sales, non-arms-length"

A foreclosure sale is the public auction or resale of property that a lender takes back after a borrower fails to make required payments, similar to a bank selling a repossessed car to recover what it’s owed. Investors watch these sales because they can reveal distressed assets sold at discounts, and trends in foreclosure activity can signal credit stress in real estate markets that affects property values, mortgage-backed securities and bank balance sheets.

auction sales financial

"excluded new construction homes, foreclosure sales, auction sales, non-arms-length"

A method of selling assets where potential buyers submit competing bids and the item goes to the highest bidder, often run in person or online. For investors it matters because auctions reveal what buyers are actually willing to pay, creating clear prices, improving liquidity, and sometimes producing sudden price swings; think of it like an estate sale where multiple people bid and the final sale reflects true market demand.

non-arms-length transactions financial

"auction sales, non-arms-length transactions, bank/corporate/government acquisitions"

Non-arms-length transactions are deals between a company and parties that have a close relationship to it, such as major shareholders, directors, or affiliates, where terms may not reflect open-market prices—like selling a car to a family member at a special rate. They matter to investors because such deals can hide conflicts of interest, distort reported profits or assets, and change value or risk; transparent disclosure and independent approvals help assess whether the terms are fair.

quitclaims regulatory

"bank/corporate/government acquisitions, invalid quitclaims and outlier sale prices"

A quitclaim is a legal transfer where a person or company gives whatever ownership interest they have in property to another party without promising the interest is clear or free of problems. For investors, a quitclaim can move assets or rights onto or off a company’s balance sheet quickly but carries title or liability risk because the giver makes no guarantees—think of handing over a car 'as‑is' without any warranty.

AI-generated analysis. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.

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New Zillow data finds sellers consistently lose when their home is hidden from buyers or when one agent holds both sides of the deal

• Home sellers in same-agent dual agency transactions — where one agent represented both buyer and seller — lost a combined $1.49 billion over three years, according to a new Zillow analysis.
• Home sellers who listed off the MLS lost a combined $1.36 billion over three years, typically selling for 1.3% less than sellers who listed publicly.
• The price penalties from dual agency and off-MLS listings have appeared in every year Zillow has analyzed, showing a consistent pattern of harm.

SEATTLE, May 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Home sellers who sold to a buyer represented by the same agent lost a combined $1.49 billion over the past three years, according to new Zillow® research. Sellers who listed privately — not on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) — lost nearly as much. In both cases, the agent has a financial reason to put their own and their brokerage's interests ahead of the seller's. And in both cases, the data shows sellers pay the price in what may be the largest financial transaction of their lives.

When one agent represents both the buyer and the seller, that agent's economic incentives shift. The additional commission earned by pushing a seller's price up is generally modest, while the potential cost of selling to another buyer and splitting the commission with another agent is significant. That dynamic can incentivize certain agents to close a deal with a buyer they represent, regardless of whether doing so is in the best interest of the seller they have a fiduciary duty to protect.

"Sellers deserve an agent whose only job is to get them the best possible price, and a listing that every buyer in the market can see. When either of those things is missing, the data keeps telling us that sellers lose," said Mischa Fisher, chief economist at Zillow. "Buyers searching without the right connections never even see the homes they're being shut out of. It's a velvet rope system designed to enrich brokerages, and sellers are subsidizing it."

The estimated loss per home from sellers in dual-agency transactions was about $2,165. Aggregate dual-agency losses were largest in California, where sellers in dual-agency deals lost an estimated $533 million over the study period. Florida sellers lost $217 million, New York sellers lost $146 million and New Jersey sellers lost $115 million.

The same pattern holds for off-MLS listings. Sellers who chose not to ever list their homes on the MLS — keeping them hidden from a swath of buyers — typically sold for 1.3% less than MLS-listed sellers, losing a combined $1.36 billion over three years. The typical loss was roughly $4,230.

"I can't tell you how many buyers I've worked with who see a privately-listed home only after it's been sold, and tell me they would have paid tens of thousands of dollars more for that house. It's discouraging for buyers to do everything right, only to find out homes were hidden from view all along," said Cory Tanzer, a Chicago-based agent with Option Premier. "From my experience, it's been clearly proven that the way to get the best price is through maximum exposure. Anyone who tells you otherwise probably has a different motive than what's best for their clients."

The off-MLS price penalty hit sellers in the lower price tier the hardest, who typically lost 2.2% compared to sellers of similar homes listed on the MLS. The harm also fell unevenly by neighborhood. Sellers in communities of color — neighborhoods where the majority of households are headed by people of color — typically lost 1.9%, compared to 1.1% in majority white neighborhoods.

Neither finding appears to be a short-term anomaly. Both price penalties existed in the data for all the study years of 2023, 2024 and 2025. That persistence is notable given that rising inventory over the study period has given buyers more options and made bidding wars less common — conditions that would be expected to narrow the off-MLS penalty, in particular.

Both findings point to the same underlying principle. Whether a home is hidden from some or all buyers or negotiated by an agent with divided loyalties, when the housing market is less transparent and less competitive, American home buyers and sellers bear the cost.

Methodology
Zillow analyzed more than 15 million transactions from 2023 to 2025, with about 6.8 million and 6.2 million meeting our strict inclusion criteria for evaluating dual agency and private listing effects, respectively. Of the home sales that were analyzed, dual agency transactions accounted for 4.7% of the sample, while private home sales accounted for 1.9%.

Dual-agency transactions were defined as having the same individual agent represent both the buyer and the seller.

Private listings were defined as sales that appeared to be marketed privately and submitted to the MLS only after a purchase contract was in place. To classify these sales, Zillow identified sales that were reported pending or closed with at most one day active and with a buyer and seller represented by the same agent or by agents within the same brokerage office.

Zillow also parsed off-MLS transactions, which were never published to the public MLS after being privately listed. Zillow further narrowed these "off-MLS" transactions into a much smaller set — those with a previous sale in the MLS, which allowed us to verify property details. Only this subset among off-MLS transactions was included in the analysis.

In both sets —private listings and validated off-MLS transactions — Zillow excluded new construction homes, foreclosure sales, auction sales, non-arms-length transactions, bank/corporate/government acquisitions, invalid quitclaims and outlier sale prices (below $10,000 or above $10 million).

To determine the impact of listing strategy on the sale price, Zillow started with the Zestimate a full three months prior to sale. If a home was listed at this time, it was excluded (validation was conducted to ensure this exclusion was not driving results). To strip out the effect of market-level price movements during this three-month period, Zillow adjusted the Zestimate using movements in the Zillow Home Value Index at the ZIP code level. The ratio of the sale price to the Zestimate-based expectation was then taken. The median of this ratio was compared between listing groups: dual-agent transactions compared to transactions with separate agents, and the on-MLS listings compared to the private listings and validated off-MLS listings.

The estimated total net loss to sellers uses the shares of dual-agency sales and private listings in our sample and the median percentage losses on the total transaction value for all homes in the sample. Due to estimation at the median, subcategory totals may not sum to the parent total. The exclusion of transactions that do not meet our standards for data completeness means the reported values are an underestimate of the full degree of harm nationally.

About Zillow Group
Zillow Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: Z and ZG) is reimagining real estate to make home a reality for more and more people.

As the most visited real estate app and website in the United States, Zillow connects hundreds of millions of consumers with innovative technology, trusted agents and loan officers, and seamless digital solutions. With industry-leading tools and resources, Zillow supercharges real estate professionals so they can grow their businesses and deliver exceptional client experiences. For renters and housing providers, Zillow offers not only a robust marketplace but a set of end-to-end products and services to streamline applications, leases, payments and more.

Zillow's ecosystem spans the entire home journey — from dreaming and shopping to renting, buying, selling and financing.

Zillow Group's affiliates, subsidiaries and brands include Zillow®, Zillow Premier Agent®, Zillow Home Loans®, Zillow Rentals®, Zillow® New Construction, Trulia®, StreetEasy®, Out East®, HotPads®, Follow Up Boss®, ShowingTime®, dotloop® and Zillow® Closing.

All marks herein are owned by MFTB Holdco, Inc., a Zillow affiliate. Zillow Home Loans, LLC is an Equal Housing Lender, NMLS #10287 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org). © 2026 MFTB Holdco, Inc., a Zillow affiliate.

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SOURCE Zillow

FAQ

What did Zillow (NASDAQ:Z) find about dual agency home sale losses from 2023 to 2025?

Zillow estimated that U.S. sellers in same-agent dual agency transactions lost about $1.49 billion from 2023–2025. According to Zillow, the typical seller in these deals received roughly $2,165 less than similar homes sold with separate agents representing buyer and seller.

How much did off-MLS listings cost home sellers in Zillow’s May 14, 2026 report on Z?

Zillow estimated off-MLS home sales cost U.S. sellers a combined $1.36 billion over three years. According to Zillow, these homes typically sold for 1.3%, or about $4,230, less than comparable properties listed on the MLS and fully exposed to buyers.

Which states saw the largest estimated seller losses from same-agent dual agency in Zillow’s Z analysis?

Zillow’s analysis estimated the largest aggregate dual agency seller losses in California at $533 million from 2023–2025. According to Zillow, estimated losses were $217 million in Florida, $146 million in New York and $115 million in New Jersey over the same period.

How were lower-priced homes and communities of color affected in Zillow’s May 2026 MLS research on Z?

Zillow found off-MLS pricing effects were stronger for some groups. According to Zillow, lower price-tier sellers typically lost 2.2%, while sellers in communities of color lost about 1.9%, compared with roughly 1.1% losses in majority white neighborhoods when not fully listed on the MLS.

What share of U.S. sales involved dual agency or private listings in Zillow’s 2023–2025 Z study?

Zillow reported that dual agency transactions made up about 4.7% of analyzed home sales between 2023 and 2025. According to Zillow, private home sales, which were briefly or privately marketed before MLS entry, accounted for roughly 1.9% of the study sample.

What methodology did Zillow (Z) use to estimate dual agency and off-MLS price impacts?

Zillow analyzed more than 15 million transactions from 2023–2025, using the Zestimate three months before sale as an adjusted benchmark. According to Zillow, it excluded new construction, foreclosures, auctions and other atypical or incomplete records to isolate effects of dual agency and listing strategy.