On Monday, Corcoran CEO Pamela Liebman told her agents to take all of their listings off StreetEasy and offered a $1,000 advertising budget for every home pulled, according to a recording reported by The Real Deal. StreetEasy answered by tightening its rules on private listings and capping the biggest firms’ share of its lead program. My take is different depending on which side of the table you sit.
If you are selling, I would be very wary of any strategy that results in your listing being seen by fewer buyers. Especially at this time of year, with a lot of new inventory hitting, you do not want to be the listing that is not available everywhere. Private listings help the brokerages, because they make it more likely the firm collects the commission on both sides of the deal. They do not help sellers get the highest price.
If you are buying, it is now more important than ever to work with a proactive agent who is sourcing listings for you from across the entire market: broker-only portals, off-market sourcing, and the public listings on StreetEasy. Within broker circles, “private” is known as code for “overpriced,” because it tends to be where agents test unrealistic pricing before listing publicly and finding the market price.
When I compile the top ten each week, I am looking across the entire market, regardless of which brokerage holds the listing or which portal it sits on. This week’s ten run from a $575,000 parlor-floor co-op in Boerum Hill to the entire 17th floor of Norman Foster’s 551 West 21st Street at $28,000,000. Six are in Manhattan and four in Brooklyn. If one pulls at you, reply and we’ll set up a private tour.
SourcesThe Real Deal · OLR August + September 2026 Monthly Sales Reports
Buying or selling in New York? Start with a text. Justin replies personally, no assistant in between.
