PolicySource: The Close
ARELLO: private listings sold below MLS comps - coming-soons sold above
Original headline: “Private Home Listings Sell for Less, Study Finds - Here's How Much” — The Close, Oct 15, 2026
The Close reports that ARELLO's September 18 study of more than 10 million U.S. residential transactions from January 2024 through June 2026 found private listings sold 1.26% below standard MLS listings in 2024 and 0.87% below in 2025, while coming-soon listings sold 1.38% and 1.16% above MLS listings in those years and 1.55% above in the first half of 2026. Lower-priced homes (fifth through 35th price percentiles) showed a median $5,055 (2.13%) gap for private vs MLS, and The Close notes wider gaps in majority non-white (2.21%) and majority-Hispanic (3.33%) neighborhoods versus majority-white (0.88%); ARELLO says the results show association not causation and that private networks are not inherently discriminatory. The Oct. 15 piece also cites NAHREP CEO Gary Acosta raising access concerns for first-time buyers and underserved communities, plus a Bright MLS Mid-Atlantic analysis that office-exclusive listings took a median 37 days to go under contract versus 20 for MLS-first.
Our take (opinion & analysis, not reporting)
For listing agents pitching office exclusives or private networks: put the ARELLO price and days-on-market figures next to your brokerage's private-listing comps before the seller signs an opt-out, and document that you walked through MLS-first, coming-soon, and delayed-marketing options under local Clear Cooperation rules. If a seller still wants limited exposure for privacy, set a written date to reassess and move to the MLS if showings stall. Buyer agents: treat private and early-access inventory as incomplete coverage - keep clients on MLS alerts plus major portals, and ask listing agents when an office exclusive will hit the open market.
What people are saying online
Real-estate marketing account The Real Estate Marketing Update summarized ARELLO's finding that coming-soon listings sold about 1.55% above straight-to-active MLS listings in H1 2026 and that private off-MLS listings sold for less, drawing agent replies about listing-path strategy.
Agent Terry Ballentine asked whether private listings help residential sellers and pointed followers to the ARELLO white paper's comparison of private vs coming-soon vs immediate MLS.
On Oct. 18, TickerGrove replied to a Wall Street Journal post on Compass private exclusives by citing ARELLO's ~1.3% private-below-MLS figure for 2024 and contrasting it with Compass's +4.6% claim that only counts closed listings.
Sources: The Real Estate Marketing Update (X) · Terry Ballentine (X) · TickerGrove (X) · REAgentGigs (X)