Compass settles NWMLS lawsuit on coming soon listings

Compass has reached a settlement with the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) that will allow Washington state homeowners and their real estate brokers to use phased marketing strategies such as “coming soon” listings without facing NWMLS fines, the company announced Monday. The agreement settling the April 2025 antitrust lawsuit, which will become effective in stages beginning Sept. 4, 2026, unwinds several long-standing NWMLS rules that restricted how properties could be marketed prior to full listing status. It gives listing brokers and their seller clients more flexibility to tailor marketing strategies, aligning NWMLS practices more closely with Washington state law on seller control and broker duties. ‘First Look’ coming soon status launches Sept. 4 Starting Sept. 4, NWMLS will introduce a new “First Look” status that functions as a coming soon listing option. Under this status, sellers can publicly market their properties without triggering days on market or public price history and without having buyer inquiries diverted away from the listing broker, according to Compass. Compass said the structure is intended to let sellers generate early interest, gather buyer feed...