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As the industry transitioned into a new era, big-player power moves, shifting rates, reform at the National Association of Realtors, technology advancements and more made 2025 another consequential year for real estate.

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Events over the past year in real estate may not have been as flashy as what happened in 2024, which was filled with commission lawsuit settlements and subsequent industry practice changes.

However, as the industry transitioned into a new era, power moves, shifting rates, reform at the National Association of Realtors, technology advancements and more made 2025 another consequential year for real estate.

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The year was marked by big opinions, power plays, and companies looking to shift the tide in their favor.

In short, conditions set the stage for a wave of change in the industry that continues to unfold. What follows are the topics and headlines that shaped 2025.

NAR transitions

Nykia Wright | Credit: AJ Canaria Creative Services and Canva

Leaders at the National Association of Realtors had a big task ahead of them in 2025: to reposition the organization for success after years of tumult that had shaken confidence among consumers and the Realtor community as a whole.

New CEO Nykia Wright led the way this year, reorganizing the association and tightening its finances through layoffs, appointing Jarrod Grasso as senior vice president of industry relations, naming a new general counsel and chief financial officer, and bringing on Sherry Chris as an advisor for the org’s turnaround.

NAR also reviewed and revised key policies in 2025, ultimately moving to overturn the “no-commingling” rule amid increased scrutiny by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and introducing a new listing option for members — “delayed marketing exempt listings” — while opting to preserve the Clear Cooperation Policy.

In a show of transparency, the association also shared, at the request of media outlets, how it spent its money in 2024, painting a picture of the state of things before “fiscal discipline” by its new CEO fully kicked in, NAR said.

Mortgage rates

Jerome Powell | Credit: Getty Images and Canva

One of the biggest industry topics of discussion this year was mortgage rates and their movements. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell faced intense scrutiny from President Trump and his administration as Americans grappled with high prices and economic uncertainty in the wake of new tariff policies that swept the country starting in the spring.

Over the course of 2025, Americans saw short-term interest rates drop three times, ultimately bringing down the average 30-year fixed rate from a high of 7.04 percent in January 2025 to around 6.2 percent by late December 2025, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Despite rates seeing some gradual downward movement, Americans continued to show hesitancy in transacting for a good portion of the year as they slowly adjusted to this new, higher-rate landscape. A wait-and-see attitude also stemmed, in part, from the Trump administration’s tariff policies, as Americans sought answers about how much their cost of living would shift due to the policies, and in part from the persistent housing shortage nationwide.

AI

Credit: Canva

The large language models (LLMs) that began to infiltrate the industry toward the second half of 2024 continued to do so in 2025 as portals, CRMs, property inspection apps, brokerages, mortgage companies and other industry players adopted these and other AI models with increasing frequency.

Realtor.com and Homes.com launched natural language search features this year as Zillow unveiled a controversial integration with ChatGPT. The mega portal also later in the year launched a new AI-powered tech suite, Zillow Pro, that has integrated Follow Up Boss, My Agent and Agent Profiles and infused them with exclusive data and AI capabilities.

Meanwhile, mortgage servicer Rocket unveiled a series of AI tools at the end of 2025 that will help mortgage brokers and loan officers automate and streamline processes like underwriting and creating purchase agreements.

On the CRM side, RealScout this year announced a new AI-based home search for agents that allows them to provide additional behind-the-scenes insights to homebuyers.

Overall, tech movements in 2025 showed that AI updates are continuing to evolve and be adopted with greater frequency, a trend that is certain to continue in 2026.

Private listings

Credit: Canva

One of the largest debates that continued to polarize the industry in 2025 was the use and promotion of office exclusives and private listing networks.

Compass in particular remained committed to its private listing network, and in May created a physical book of the brokerage’s in-house listings to accompany its online platform. Meanwhile, companies like Douglas Elliman, Corcoran Group and Luxury Presence unveiled their own formal platforms for private listings this year, even though Elliman and Corcoran had always assisted clients with private listings when requested.

The result was that 2025, particularly in the luxury sector, was defined by the formalization of private listing networks in a new way as firms promoted exclusivity and privacy, while also reaping the benefits of keeping more business in-house. Ultimately, the strong views over private listings spilled over into two of the year’s largest legal battles.

Legal battles

Jeremy Wacksman and Andy Florance | Credit: Zillow, AJ Canaria Creative Works, Canva

Compass’s move to make privately marketed listings a core part of its business strategy ultimately led to friction with big industry partners in 2025.

A legal spat ensued between the brokerage and Northwest MLS this spring when the MLS temporarily suspended Compass’s IDX feed for about a day in response to the brokerage’s private listings, which violated NWMLS’s rules. Compass alleged in its lawsuit that the MLS was operating in a monopolistic fashion and limited consumer choice. The case is ongoing, as discovery was allowed to move forward, despite NWMLS’s objections, and a jury trial is currently scheduled for October 2026.

Meanwhile, after Zillow this spring unveiled its new listing access standards, Compass sued. The brokerage alleged that Zillow’s new policy was an anticompetitive tactic to “protect its monopoly and revenues.”

As two of the biggest players in the industry — Zillow as the largest portal and Compass as the No. 1 brokerage in the U.S. by sales volume — each company has plenty of resources with which to fight the legal battle.

After a four-day hearing that took place in November, each company has submitted supporting evidence in its favor while the case continues.

Zillow is also defending itself in a copyright infringement lawsuit with CoStar Group, which alleged that the portal illegally used thousands of CoStar-watermarked images on Zillow rentals and its partner platforms. After a recent motion by Zillow to move the case from the Southern District of New York to Washington, that suit has now changed venues.

Zillow has argued both that the burden is on landlords to provide Zillow with appropriate listing photos and that CoStar’s legal tactics are all part of a manufactured “playbook” to attack Homes.com’s competitors.

Zillow is also the focus of two class-action lawsuits, one related to its Flex Agent program and another over alleged steering to its mortgage arm. The portal has also been sued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over its $100 million rental syndication deal with Redfin.

M&A

Robert Reffkin | Credit: Canva and Alive Coverage for Compass

During a slow-market year that challenged the stamina of real estate agents and brokers, a growing number of companies opted to consolidate through mergers and acquisitions.

Arguably, Compass set the tone for 2025 by announcing its acquisition of @properties Christie’s International Real Estate at the tail end of 2024 in a deal valued at about $444 million. But the brokerage didn’t stop there.

The splashiest M&A news of the year came when Compass announced in September a planned acquisition of Anywhere Real Estate in a jaw-dropping $1.6 billion deal. If approved by regulators, the deal will likely close at the end of 2026, and is poised to create a combined force of roughly 341,000 agents across brokerage and franchise offices. The companies are some of the top-earning by sales volume across the industry.

Other banner M&A deals this year included Rocket Companies’ acquisition of Redfin for $1.75 billion and the mortgage servicer’s acquisition of Mr. Cooper Group Inc. for $9.4 billion just a few weeks later.

There were also a handful of rumored M&A deals that never materialized — including Compass’s supposed acquisition of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, which was vehemently denied by the company, and an alleged deal with Anywhere to buy Douglas Elliman. The latter also never came to fruition, but gave the boutique firm’s stock a nice boost while the rumor mill was churning. (Both companies declined to comment on the rumors.)

Email Lillian Dickerson