Think the American housing market is a mess? Try buying a home in Europe.
In a recent Business Insider article, James Rodriguez recapped real estate executive Brian Boero’s frustrating experience buying a second home in Italy, a process that felt like, in Boero’s words, “feeling around in the dark.” No reliable listing portal, no pricing consistency, and no central database. Just window shopping (literally) and chasing down agents who may or may not know what’s actually for sale.
It’s the kind of chaos that makes you appreciate just how effective our MLS-driven system really is, and how reckless it would be to dismantle it.
Rodriguez’s article (“Adieu, house hunting! America may be copying the worst part of Europe’s real estate market,” August 6, 2025) outlines the growing threat posed by off-market listings, delayed syndication, and exclusive inventory strategies like the one Compass is pushing. Their “three-phased” marketing plan keeps listings off the MLS and big portals at first, in an attempt to give their own agents and clients an early edge. Zillow responded by banning late-shared listings. Compass sued.
This kind of fragmentation, listings scattered across private platforms, instead of shared through the MLS, might be good for marketing departments, but it’s terrible for buyers, agents, and the market overall. It introduces confusion, creates inequity, and makes it harder for agents to deliver real value.
MLSs aren’t perfect, but they’re what keep the system functioning with at least a baseline of transparency and cooperation. Break that down, and we’re not innovating, we’re regressing.
Boero, quoted in the Business Insider piece, put it bluntly: “Let’s not destroy this very special thing we have. Because just look at the rest of the world and how messed up it is.”
Exactly right.