<i>"They grew so prevalent in some parts of the country that the National Association of Realtors (NAR) passed a policy against the practice in 2019, requiring brokers to list any property that they are marketing to potential buyers on the multiple listing service, or MLS"</i><p>Right. So the realtors instead created a <i>second</i> listing network to "draft" listings before putting them on the MLS. What a tidy little loophole.<p><a href="https://chicagoagentmagazine.com/2021/04/05/mred-launches-revamped-private-listings-network/" rel="nofollow">https://chicagoagentmagazine.com/2021/04/05/mred-launches-re...</a>
I don't know what's really going on, but I know this article is trying to mislead the reader. The headline is about pocket listings, but the only numbers mentioned related to that are<p>> The number of homes that have likely sold without being marketed to the public has grown by 67 percent since November 2019, when the NAR adopted its stricter rules, according to a Redfin analysis tracking MLS listings that were marked “sold” or “pending” the same day they were put on the database.<p>Was it 1% of homes and now it's 1.7%? The article is leading us to believe this is a large gain, but doesn't present any evidence showing that. "67%" is a suspicious number as well, as if someone said "about two-thirds" and it got translated back to a precise percent.
It is the job and responsibility of the listing agent to serve their client's interests. Assuming that sellers know this is happening, and further assuming that this practice of pocket listings serves them, I wonder HOW it does.