Every New York broker knows where buyers start their search.
Corcoran just offered its agents money to stop listing there.
At a town hall this week, Corcoran CEO Pam Liebman told New York City agents the brokerage would give them a $1,000 advertising budget per listing for every home they take off StreetEasy. The Real Deal obtained a recording of the meeting. It is the sharpest move yet in the fight between Compass and Zillow, which owns StreetEasy, over where listings get marketed and who gets paid for them.
If you own, develop, lend on, or sell residential product in New York, this matters beyond brokerage gossip. The outcome decides where listing data lives, what it costs to reach a buyer, and how much leverage a single platform holds over the market. Here’s what was reported, what the numbers say, and what I’d watch.
What Liebman Told Agents
The town hall capped four busy days. According to three Corcoran agents, managers first announced the advertising push by text and phone, encouraging brokers to pull their listings.
The same day, ads appeared on social media for Corcoran, Compass, and Sotheby’s International Realty, all owned by Compass International Holdings. The ads promoted “thousands of homes for sale not on StreetEasy.” Liebman posted the ad copy to her own Instagram.
On the call, she did not hedge:
“Take all of your listings off of StreetEasy, and when you take them off StreetEasy, we will give you the money to promote them.” — Pam Liebman, Corcoran CEO, via The Real Deal
She called it “our moment.” She said that if Corcoran loses this battle, it will be “at the mercy of this portal for now and forever.” She also accused StreetEasy of acting as a “bully pulpit.”
She did leave one door open. Agents should ultimately follow the seller’s wishes. “If they want to put it on StreetEasy day one, they should do that,” she said. But she wants agents to explain to sellers “why they do not need to be on StreetEasy.”
The Money Behind the Push
The spending is big, and it’s going up.
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Agent incentive | $1,000 ad budget per listing kept off StreetEasy |
| Rollout spend, Friday to Sunday | $600,000 |
| Current ad spend, per Liebman | $1 million a day |
| Channels | Print, digital, top publications, city subways |
| Compass-Anywhere acquisition | $1.6 billion |
| Compass + affiliates share of Manhattan resale listings this year | Nearly 50% (Marketproof) |
A Corcoran spokesperson did not confirm whether the $1 million figure covers only Corcoran or all of Compass’ brands.
My math, not reported: $600,000 over three days is about $200,000 a day. The stated run rate of $1 million a day is five times that. At that pace, a single week is roughly $7 million. Companies don’t spend like that on a short test. They spend like that when they think the market structure is up for grabs.
How We Got Here
This didn’t start on Monday. It’s been building for months.
- In recent years: Compass pushes a private listing strategy, marketing homes away from Zillow and StreetEasy.
- January: Compass’ $1.6 billion acquisition of Anywhere Real Estate brings Corcoran, Sotheby’s, and Coldwell Banker under one roof and expands Compass’ financial resources.
- July: Compass convenes top agents from Compass, Corcoran, and Sotheby’s and advises them to temporarily remove listings from StreetEasy starting in August. A Compass spokesperson said then that the suggestion was “not focused on pulling listings off any particular portal or website.”
- Two weeks ago: StreetEasy changes its Experts lead-gen program to ban agents at companies making up at least 20% of the program. That rule only hits Compass and its affiliates.
- Recently: StreetEasy updates an old rule to ban listings not uploaded on the same calendar day they are publicly marketed. The ban applies to third and later violations.
- This week: Liebman offers $1,000 per listing and tells agents to take everything off.
The tone shift is the story. In July, the message was careful and portal-neutral. Now the CEO of Corcoran is naming the platform and paying to leave it.
Reach vs. Intent: The 100 Million vs. 2 Million Debate
Both sides are arguing about the same thing: what kind of traffic sells a New York home.
Liebman’s case: even off StreetEasy, listings get exposure to over 100 million average unique monthly views across the other websites that display homes. StreetEasy, she said, gets 2 million.
StreetEasy’s response was pointed:
- Its 2 million average monthly visitors are New York City buyers actively looking for a home.
- The 100 million figure describes a national network, where most visitors have no interest in buying in New York.
- In the spokesperson’s words: “Reach without intent doesn’t sell homes.”
My read: both numbers are true and neither one settles it. A seller doesn’t need 100 million views. They need the handful of qualified buyers who will actually bid. The question is whether those buyers still start on StreetEasy, or whether Compass’ nearly 50% share of Manhattan resale listings is enough to pull them somewhere else.
StreetEasy has real advantages. TRD notes it has long been the go-to site for New York buyers and renters, with far more name recognition among regular consumers. It’s also divisive among agents. Buyer brokers like the steady flow of leads. Listing agents get exposure for clients. Compass CEO Robert Reffkin has argued it siphons leads from listing agents and charges excessive fees.
Why CRE Operators Should Care
This looks like a residential brokerage fight. The effects reach further.
- Data. StreetEasy works as the city’s de facto MLS. If a large share of listings disappears from it, public pricing data gets thinner. Appraisers, lenders, and developers all use that data to set comps and underwrite new condo pricing.
- Price discovery. Private listings mean fewer buyers see a home before it trades. That can help a seller who wants discretion. It can also leave money on the table if the right bidder never sees it.
- New development marketing. Sponsors choosing a sales team now also choose a distribution strategy. That’s a real underwriting question for absorption.
- Concentration risk. One side controls a portal. The other controls nearly half of Manhattan resale inventory. Either way, a few players hold more leverage over how buyers find homes.
What I’d Watch Next
- How many listings actually come down. The $1,000 offer is an ask, not a mandate. Agents still answer to sellers.
- Seller response. Sellers want a sale at the best price. If off-portal listings sit longer, they’ll push back fast.
- StreetEasy’s next rule change. Every move so far has drawn a response. Expect another.
- How long $1 million a day lasts. Spending at that level needs results to justify it.
The Takeaway
Liebman framed it plainly: win this battle, win the war. Whether she’s right depends on something no ad budget can buy, which is where New York buyers choose to look.
For operators, the lesson is simple. Distribution is now a strategic decision, not a checkbox. Where you list shapes who sees the property, what data the market gets, and what price you get.
If you were selling in Manhattan today, would you keep your listing off StreetEasy for a $1,000 ad budget, or is the portal still where the buyers are? Tell me in the comments.
