Sellers left $1.9 billion on the table in three years by using double agents
Private listings and dual-agent transactions can be costly for home sellers, with home sellers in California, Florida, New York and New Jersey losing the most, according to a new study.
Over the past three years, homes sold as private listings, which do not appear on a Multiple Listing Service, have typically sold for 1.3% less than comparable sales on the MLS, costing the seller an average of $4,230 per sale, Zillow’s analysis shows.
And sellers in dual-agent transactions, where one agent represents both the buyer and the seller, typically lost $2,165 per transaction in the same period, the analysis found.
Over the three years covered by the study, home sellers using dual agency lost a total of $1.49 billion, while sellers listed on a private exchange lost a total of $1.36 billion, according to the study.
Private listings, also called pocket or whisper listings, are homes that are marketed privately by a brokerage in place of or before a publicly available MLS listing. (Realtor.com® recently struck an agreement with Zillow to show preview listings from brokers participating in Zillow’s preview program, in an effort to increase market transparency.)
“Buyers who search without the right connections never even see the homes they’re being excluded from,” said Mischa Fisher, chief economist at Zillow. “It’s a velvet rope system designed to enrich real estate agents, and sellers are subsidizing it.”
Agents’ incentives ‘shift in dual agency’
The new Zillow study analyzed approximately 15 million transactions between 2023 and 2025, including 6.8 million dual-agent transactions and 6.2 million private listings. In both sets, the study excluded new construction homes, bankruptcies, auctions and certain other conditions.
By comparing the home’s sales price to the company’s internal estimate of the home’s value three months before the sale, the study determined the average percentage loss on each home.
The study suggests that the agent’s incentives may shift under dual agency. Typically, the buyer’s agent and the seller’s agent split the commission, which is often about 5% to 6% of the sales price, subject to negotiation.
But with dual agency, the dual agent only receives a modest additional commission if he negotiates the seller’s price higher. Meanwhile, the dual agent stands to lose half of his future commission if he loses the listing to another buyer with independent representation.
Dual-agent deals cost sellers in California a total of $533 million over the period, the study found. According to the analysis, Florida sellers lost $217 million, New York sellers lost $146 million and New Jersey sellers lost $115 million.
The study found that private listings per property took an even bigger hit for sellers. And homes in lower price ranges lost the most, at 2.2% less compared to comparable homes on the MLS list, the study found.
“A private listing, by definition, is not widely marketed through the MLS, which reduces exposure to some potential buyers,” says Realtor.com’s chief economist. Danielle Hale. “This research shows it lowers the price for sellers, and implies some buyers are missing the opportunity to spot their dream home.”
Because it excluded some significant outliers, including sales prices under $10,000 or over $10 million, as well as some other types of transactions, Zillow says it likely underestimated the full financial hit sellers take from private listings and duplicate brokerages.
Growing concerns about private listings
The new research adds to the body of evidence raising questions about the potential downsides of private listings.
Clear MLSa multi-listing service covering the Mid-Atlantic region recently published a study showing that private listings take longer to sell and don’t offer price benefits for the seller.
That study parsed six months of data on more than 100,000 home sales in six states and Washington, DC, examining sales trends for private listings, also known as office exclusives.
“From our perspective, the research says that when sellers list their homes as an exclusive office in our market, the Bright MLS market, those homes take longer to sell; and they don’t bring the seller a higher price,” he says. Lisa Sturtevantchief economist at BrightMLS.
Some state lawmakers are looking into the issue. In Washington State, Governor Bob Ferguson recently signed a new law banning private listings there, which is the strictest ban in the country.
The law, which takes effect June 11, 2026, prohibits real estate agents from marketing homes to an exclusive or limited group of potential buyers unless the property is simultaneously marketed to the public.
In addition, Wisconsin last year passed restrictions on private listings that require agents to obtain informed consent from sellers before marketing a home privately.
Lawmakers in Illinois, Hawaii and Connecticut have also proposed similar legislation to restrict private listings.
