Washington’s housing market works best when it is open, competitive and fair. When real estate listings are broadly available to all members of the public, the marketplace functions as it should: Prices reflect genuine demand; buyers, sellers and renters can make informed decisions; real estate professionals compete on equal footing; and access to opportunity is not determined by private connections.
These are values shared by both business leaders and fair housing advocates alike.
But basic transparency is increasingly under pressure from the threat of private listing networks, an emerging practice in which some brokerages market homes to select buyers while keeping them hidden from the broader public.
As this practice has taken hold in some parts of the country, it has been to the benefit of large brokerages, which use private listings to recruit more clients and keep both sides of the commission in-house, at the expense of the consumer. Sellers benefit from maximum exposure of their homes, and home shoppers are most successful when they have access to complete inventory to make the best decision for their families, in partnership with the real estate agents of their choosing.
We applaud the Washington Legislature for taking action to prevent those practices from taking root here by passing Senate Bill 6091. The legislation passed with bipartisan, nearly unanimous support, and will help preserve the transparency that has long defined Washington’s housing market by establishing a straightforward principle: If a home is marketed to any group of buyers or brokers, it must be marketed to all buyers and brokers.
In other words, selective promotion cannot substitute for fair access. Importantly, SB 6091 does not prohibit legitimate off-market transactions, for example, your ability to sell to a neighbor or family member, or prevent homeowners from choosing how to market their property. It does not require owners to allow physical access to their property and includes exemptions when necessary to protect the health or safety of the owner or occupant.
This bold action comes at a pivotal moment. Washington faces a generational housing affordability crisis. The Washington Department of Commerce estimates that our state will need 1 million new homes by 2044 to meet demand. Lawmakers have responded with urgency: legalizing duplexes and triplexes, expanding accessory dwelling units, encouraging transit-oriented development and advancing proposals to convert underused commercial buildings into housing.
Those reforms are essential. Increasing supply is the most important long-term solution to affordability. But these efforts would be undermined if available homes are not fully visible to the public. A housing market that fragments listings across exclusive networks weakens competition, distorts price discovery and reduces consumer confidence. Transparency ensures that the benefits of increased supply reach the widest possible pool of home shoppers.
Public access to listings also reinforces decades of fair housing protections. When properties are marketed selectively, shared only within closed networks or limited circles, the risk of unequal access increases, whether intentional or not. Open listings create accountability and ensure those protections are meaningful in practice.
As leaders representing the business and fair housing communities, we do not approach every issue from the same perspective. But we agree on this: An opaque and fragmented housing market does not serve Washington consumers. Washingtonians deserve fair access to opportunity. Professionals deserve a level playing field. And communities across our state are stronger when housing markets are transparent, competitive and fair.
Washington has led the nation in its efforts to tackle housing supply and affordability, and we are proud our state continues to lead by passing SB 6091 to ensure that as we continue building more homes, we also preserve the openness that makes our housing market work for everyone. We urge Gov. Bob Ferguson to sign SB 6091 into law.
