Take a look back at the top 5 real estate news stories of 2025
As predicted in 2024, mergers and acquisitions – even the rumors – dominated the headlines in 2025. Other top stories emerged from the do’s and don’ts of stock market listings. Whether private listings are good for consumers, whether Zillow can ban listings that don’t hit the MLS in one day, or whether MLS listings should be displayed with non-MLS listings – the debate raged on. Some rules have changed, and some of them may ultimately be decided by the courts.
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As we close out 2025, let’s look back at the biggest news stories of the year, as chosen by you, our readers. What’s on the list – and what’s not – may surprise you. So without further ado, here’s a countdown of Inman’s Top 5 Most Read News Stories of 2025.
Robert Reffkin (left) and Warren Buffett (right)
5. Compass is negotiating the acquisition of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices
By Taylor Anderson, Jim Dalrymple II, March 13, 2025
When rumors circulated this spring that Compass was in talks to acquire Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Inman reporters went to work and spent days talking to sources who said a deal was imminent — though they were unwilling to officially report it.
Compass, Robert Reffkin and BHHS did not immediately return calls for comment, but Gino Blefari, president and CEO of HomeServices of America, strongly denied that the two companies were in acquisition talks shortly after the Inman story was published.
When asked about it on the Real Estate Insiders Unfiltered podcast, Chris Kelly, CEO of HomeServices, said, “The context around it is, let’s think about the time everyone was in at the time, right? So that was, again, post-trial, verdict, everyone’s trying to reach a settlement.”
“As you know, you also run a very large company. You’re always having conversations, right? Like many of the companies that HomeServices has bought over the years, we’ve been having conversations for years. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. And if it turned into a headline like that every time someone had a conversation, it would be really bogus.”
Compass buying another brokerage would be big news, right? Of course, in September, just six months later, news broke that Compass will acquire Anywhere. This news dominated the news cycle and opinion columns on Inman by the end of the year.
EXTRA: Compass to acquire Anywhere in $1.6 billion deal, with cap on rise to the top
4. Zillow will ban privately marketed listings starting in May
By Lillian Dickerson, April 10, 2025
Just when it seemed like the industry might collectively come to terms with the new buyer agent rules, the National Association of Realtors amended the Clear Cooperation Policy and created a new MLS policy called the Delayed Marketing Exempt Listing.
As the name suggests, the new policy gives sellers “the ability to instruct the listing agent to defer marketing of a listing through Internet Data Exchange (IDX) and syndication for a specified period of time. Each MLS has the discretion to determine a deferred marketing period most appropriate for their local marketplace.”
The adjustment took place against the backdrop of growing private listing networks among brokers, with Compass being the most vocal advocate of the concept.
In April, the nation’s largest real estate search portal, Zillow, announced a ban on listings that are not added to the MLS and provided to Zillow within 24 hours of being publicly marketed. The policy went into effect in June, with brokers like eXp on board.
In June, Compass filed an antitrust lawsuit alleging that Zillow “employed anticompetitive tactics to protect its monopoly and revenues in violation of antitrust laws.”
The war is currently raging in the courts, with a recent hearing to decide whether “Zillow’s ban has caused irreparable harm to Compass and, if so, whether Zillow should be prevented from enforcing it as Compass’ antitrust case against the portal giant works its way through the courts.” Inman reported. Expect these questions to be answered early next year.
EXTRA: Zillow and Redfin Listing Ban FAQ: What you need to know now
3. Real estate attorneys are taking a big stand against sharing real estate agent commissions
By Andrea V. Brambila, January 24, 2025
Just five months after NAR’s commission settlement rules went into effect, there was still a lot of confusion about forms and best practices. It’s no surprise that a legal meeting of the minds at Inman Connect New York 2025 caught a lot of reader attention.
NextHome’s James Dwiggins moderated a panel with CRMLS systems General advisor Ed Zorn and leading real estate companies from the world’s Chief Legal Officer Jessica Edgerton titled “The Next Legal Storm.”
Both attorneys had advice: stop sharing commissions, don’t use standardized state forms that allow commission sharing, show all homes that meet buyers’ criteria regardless of offers of compensation, ask for compensation between buyers and agents in the offer and avoid mentioning an amount when sharing that sellers are open to offers that include a concession for buyer’s representation expenses.
The duo also agreed that another way to avoid future lawsuits is to enforce NAR’s Clear Cooperation Policy, but the CCP was amended just three months later (see #4).
2. Keller Williams takes over major investments from CoreLogic owner
By Jim Dalrymple II, Jotham Sederstrom, March 3, 2025
In March, rumors of a deal between Keller Williams and Stone Point had been circulating for weeks. Then came the announcement that the 42-year-old, fiercely independent, Texas-based franchisor would sell an investment stake to Stone Point Capital. At the same time, Chris Czarnecki was named as Mark Willis’ replacement as CEO of KW.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but a spokesperson told Inman that KW would be owned by “Gary Keller, Stone Point Capital and other members of the company’s leadership team,” and that Czarnecki would also “invest alongside Stone Point.”
You may remember Stone Point as the parent company of CoreLogic, now Cotalitya name that debuted a rebrand later that month. Many predicted that in 2025 was going to be a particularly active year for mergers and acquisitions, and this story marked the beginning of the first of many strategic moves to strengthen the position of real estate agents in a highly competitive landscape.
EXTRA: Keller Williams CEO: Private listings should be a ‘local decision’
1. NAR nullifies ‘no-mingling’ rule in Executive Committee vote
By Jim Dalrymple II, June 5, 2025
At the Realtors Legislative Meetings in Washington, DC, NAR’s mid-year conference, the trade group’s leadership voted to repeal a policy that separated listings coming from multiple listing services from listings coming from non-MLS sources, the so-called “no-mingling rule.” It was a controversial optional policy that allowed MLSs to prohibit brokers from displaying MLS listings and non-MLS listings together.
Some of the controversy surrounding the rule stemmed from an antitrust lawsuit brought against the now-defunct brokerage REX both Zillow and NARwhich REX ultimately lost. But documents from that case showed that 29 percent of broker-affiliated MLSs did not choose to adopt the rule.
Years ago, Zillow started complying with the optional policybut this spring, before the rule was repealed, the portal quietly began to allow the display of non-MLS listings with others on the platform, instead of hiding them with a filter that many users never knew existed.
The no-mingling rule was also overseen by the U.S. Department of Justice at the time.
EXTRA: NAR in 2025: personnel changes, risk reduction and policy changes
Which news stories from 2025 have stayed with you? Please mention them in the comments below.
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