It seems almost quaint that 10 years ago the Justice Department had to fight to open up the real estate market so buyers could find homes online without the help of an agent. Now, sites like Zillow and Homes.com are commonplace, but they couldn’t have thrived without the department’s intervention. In 2005 the Justice Department sued the National Association of Realtors to force an end to a NAR practice that allowed traditional brokers to withhold listings from new web portals. The department argued the practice locked in...

Source: Wall Street Journal March 03, 2019 21:45 UTC