By Nicole Friedman and Corinne Ramey
Real-estate brokerage Compass, which became an industry giant after acquiring rival Anywhere Real Estate earlier this year, is under investigation by the antitrust bureau of the New York attorney general's office.
New York-based Compass grew from about 40,000 U.S. agents to more than 200,000 when the $1.6 billion deal closed. Compass was already the country's biggest real-estate brokerage by volume. Anywhere, which owned well-known brokerage brands such as Century 21, Sotheby's and Coldwell Banker, was the second-biggest.
If the attorney general's office finds that the merger violated antitrust law, it could pursue legal action against Compass and seek potential penalties including fines or even selling off parts of the company.
Compass's stock fell 12% to $7.61 Wednesday.
The merger increased Compass's market share, especially in luxury markets like New York where both Compass and Anywhere had a large presence. Some industry analysts had expected that Compass would need to sell some offices before gaining regulatory approval for the merger.
A November report from policy analysis firm Capstone had forecast that the combined company's market share would exceed 30% in New York.
The deal, however, closed faster than expected after senior Justice Department officials decided not to launch an extended review of the merger, the Wall Street Journal reported in January. Compass had hired Trump-aligned lawyer Mike Davis to help the company make its case to the Justice Department.
A spokeswoman for Attorney General Letitia James's office confirmed the investigation, which was reported earlier by the Real Deal. Compass declined to comment.
Compass is using its larger heft to pursue its strategy of encouraging sellers to share their listings within Compass-affiliated brokerages first before making those listings widely available on the internet.
Compass's approach is controversial within the industry. Compass says that these private listings give sellers more options to test out a price or promote their listing before it is fully ready for sale. Critics of the practice, including listings site Zillow, say that sellers benefit from sharing their listing as widely as possible to attract the most buyers.
Write to Nicole Friedman at nicole.friedman@wsj.com and Corinne Ramey at corinne.ramey@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 03, 2026 16:31 ET (20:31 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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