Chicago Listing Fight Restores Zillow Access
Why Chicago Zillow Listings Disappeared Chicago-area home listings vanished from Zillow and Trulia after Midwest Real Estate Data, known as MRED, cut off Zillow’s access to its listing feed. This triggered a steep drop from nearly 5,000 listings to about 1,700 in roughly a day. Because MRED controls a large share of Chicago-area MLS data, the cutoff sharply reduced listing visibility on Zillow and Trulia. Redfin and Realtor.com still showed roughly 5,000 to 8,000 Chicago listings during the disruption. The homes were not removed from the market. They remained active on other channels, including Redfin, Realtor.com, Compass.com, and MLS-connected sites. Consumer Disruption The immediate effect fell on buyers whose search behavior depended heavily on Zillow. Many properties appeared to vanish overnight, creating confusion about what was actually available. The disruption also landed as Zillow was already facing scrutiny over referral practices tied to its mortgage business. The episode...