Brokerage giant Compass is facing an investigation by the antitrust division of the New York State Attorney General’s Office after combining with rival Anywhere Real Estate earlier this year.
Compass in January closed its $1.6 billion megamerger with Anywhere, expanding its network of agents and independent sales associates to about 340,000 globally. Compass was already the largest U.S. real estate brokerage, and Anywhere was the second largest.
The merger sped to completion months ahead of schedule, despite reported concerns from career staff in the Department of Justice’s antitrust division, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche overruled those concerns and bypassed an extended antitrust review of the deal, which led 19 Democratic senators to accuse the Justice Department of “corruption” in the matter.
Now, prosecutors led by New York Attorney General Letitia James are probing whether the deal violates state antitrust laws, and have contacted some of New York City’s largest brokerage firms as part of the inquiry, according to The Real Deal, which first reported the investigation. Realtor.com® has independently confirmed the investigation.
If the investigation finds that the merger violated antitrust laws, James could pursue legal action against Compass, including seeking fines or even attempting to force a breakup of the company.
Spokespersons for Compass and the Office of the New York State Attorney General declined to comment when reached by Realtor.com.
Merger makes Compass the world’s largest brokerage
Compass, founded in 2012 as a single real estate office in Manhattan, has quickly grown to become the largest residential brokerage in the world.
The Anywhere merger brought well-known brands such as Century 21, Sotheby’s, and Coldwell Banker under the Compass umbrella, which already included Christie’s.
The Capitol Forum, an independent firm that analyzes regulatory risk, estimated that the merger would give Compass control of 30% or more of local brokerage markets across the U.S.
The combined brokerage has even deeper penetration in some markets, including Manhattan, where the combined transactions of Compass and Anywhere totaled more than 80% of real estate deals in 2024, according to the report.
The Capitol Forum report quoted an unnamed Anywhere-affiliated agent who voiced concerns that Compass would use its market power to charge “higher commissions on the public and higher fees upon the brokers that work for them.”
Those concerns were shared by a group of Democratic senators led by Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who penned a letter to then-Attorney General Pam Bondi protesting the speedy federal approval of the deal.
“This decision raises questions about corruption under your watch and its impact on housing affordability for American families,” they wrote. “Allowing this merger will make it easier for these firms to exert greater control over the real estate market, limit consumer access and choice, and ultimately exacerbate the housing crisis that has put homeownership out of reach for millions of Americans.”
Throughout the merger process, Compass CEO Robert Reffkin maintained that the deal was not anticompetitive.
“We believe choice and competition fuel innovation, and we will never impose one-size-fits-all mandates,” Reffkin wrote in an open letter to Compass agents. “Our network will reward professionalism and expertise, protect buyers from hidden fees, and allow sellers the choice in how their home is marketed.”
Keith Griffith is a journalist at Realtor.com covering housing policy, real estate news, and trends in the residential market. Previously, his work has appeared in Business Insider, The Street, Chicago Sun-Times, New York Post, and Daily Mail, among other publications. He has a master’s degree in economic and business journalism from Columbia University.
