New York, NY - May 1, 2025 – Compass, the largest residential real estate brokerage in the United States by sales volume, announces the launch of its new Compass Private Exclusive Book – a collection of Compass Private Exclusives available for viewing in Compass offices. In a move to promote greater transparency and collaboration, agents from all brokerages are invited to visit any Compass office to individually browse Private Exclusives listings on a 1:1 basis that are not publicly available online. Sellers with privacy or security concerns can opt out. This initiative reimagines the spirit of the original MLS books by providing a centralized, physical resource to discover unique properties while respecting the privacy, security, and marketing strategies of today’s sellers.
The Compass Private Exclusives Book will be launched in all markets. The National Association of Realtors (NAR), the MLS, and Zillow are not expected to prevent Compass from sharing with all agents and consumers given NAR’s MLS Antitrust Compliance Policy, stating “Boards and associations of REALTORS® and their MLSs shall not prohibit or discourage participants from taking ‘office exclusive’ listings” (https://www.nar.realtor/handbook-on-multiple-listing-policy/policies-mls-antitrust-compliance-policy). NAR also recently clarified that any agent can share a Private Exclusive on a 1:1 basis with agents at other brokerages and/or clients.
“Private isn’t hidden, exclusive isn’t secret. The majority of Compass Private Exclusives that sell off-MLS are co-brokered with non-Compass agents,” said a Compass spokesperson. “Compass is now the only brokerage sharing all off-MLS listings with the entire brokerage community. Unfortunately, there is a persistent false narrative suggesting the motivation behind Compass Private Exclusives is to double-end deals, which couldn’t be further from the truth.”
With the launch of the Compass Private Exclusives Book, Compass is now the only brokerage that is sharing off-MLS listings with the entire brokerage community. If Compass’ goal were to double end deals, it would keep office exclusives in-house as NAR’s Clear Cooperation Policy allows, but instead Compass is trying to share its Private Exclusives with the entire brokerage community, in a manner that is consistent with NAR’recent clarification that Compass Private Exclusives (e.g., office exclusives) can be shared one-to-one with agents at other brokerages.
The Compass Private Exclusives Book also supports fair housing as any potential group of buyers, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, disability, or other characteristics protected by the Fair Housing Act and other civil rights statutes, can visit a Compass office to view these listings. Every time buyers search Compass.com, they see how many Private Exclusives match their criteria, and how to access them by contacting a Compass agent.
Agents can explore these listings without concern about recruitment, as agent contact details will never be used for recruiting purposes. This initiative is solely focused on creating connections between agents and their buyers and sellers.
Compass offices will have the option to share a physical book or a digital book. The digital book will be updated in real time, while the physical book will be updated multiple times weekly. They will show the Compass Private Exclusives in that specific local market. The Compass Private Exclusive Book will start by being launched in the largest Compass office located in each market. If the brokerage community finds it valuable, it will be extended to other offices.
