A federal judge in Seattle this week dismissed antitrust claims in a lawsuit filed in 2021 by Austin-based real estate startup Real Estate Exchange (REX) against Zillow Group and The National Association of Realtors (NAR).
REX accused Zillow of anticompetitive behavior related to how certain homes were shown on its platform, alleging that Seattle-based Zillow concealed REX agent listings following a change to Zillow’s search portal.
Zillow joined the NAR in 2021 so it could source homes from multiple listing services (MLS) databases.
Due to multiple listing service (MLS) rules, Zillow grouped listings into “agent listings” and “other listings” that showed properties not included in MLS databases.
REX said the change hurt its traffic and impacted its reputation.
In a ruling issued Wednesday, Judge Thomas Zilly said REX did not prove that Zillow and NAR worked together to disadvantage REX and non-MLS listings.
Some of the claims against Zillow still remain. NAR is no longer listed as a defendant in the case.
“This ruling affirms Zillow’s business decisions were squarely focused on improving the data on our website for consumers,” Zillow spokesperson Will Lemke said in a statement. “With REX’s central argument tossed from this case, we believe the public now sees this case for what it is: REX seized upon another company’s website design change to hide its own business failings.”
We’ve reached out to REX for comment and will update this story if we hear back.
Judge tosses antitrust case directed at Zillow Group and National Association of Realtors by GeekWire on Scribd
