Consumer interest also appears low, with nearly 70% of agents saying no client has asked for their home to be marketed privately, a Real Brokerage survey found.
Despite the industrywide spotlight on private and off-market listings, the day-to-day reality for real estate agents hasn’t shifted much: Off-market deals remain the exception, not the rule.
That’s according to The Real Brokerage’s latest agent survey, which also found a drop in buyer-friendly markets this spring homebuying season as affordability challenges persist.
Consumer interest in private listings is low: Of the 437 Real agents surveyed in the U.S. and Canada between March 25 and April 7, 69% said no client had inquired about the possibility of listing their home privately, while 23% said 1 in 10 clients or fewer voiced interest in the option.
Over half of respondents (54%) said they “would not recommend” a private listing for any client. Agents who were open to the strategy viewed it as a potential option for a luxury property or for a seller’s unique needs.
Similar agent sentiment surfaced in a recent survey from Cotality and ResiClub, which found most respondents were critical of private listing networks. A majority of participants in that survey reported infrequent use of this marketing strategy, partially due to low interest from sellers.
The benefit to sellers remains a point of debate, with Zillow research indicating that off-MLS listings lost sellers an estimated $1 billion in 2023 and 2024 and Compass positing that pre-marketed homes sell faster and for higher prices.
The wider industry debate aside, “the data shows adoption is still quite limited,” Real Chief Growth Officer Jason Cassity said in a news release accompanying the brokerage’s March agent survey. “Agents are ultimately focused on what drives the best outcome for their clients, and today that often means maximizing exposure.”
Agent sentiment dips: Real’s Agent Optimism Index, which tracks how agents are feeling about the 12 months ahead, recorded a drop from 70.3 in February to 62 in March. But with the score still sitting above 50, “a net positive outlook” remains — and 53% of respondents said they felt more optimistic than they had a month earlier.
Reports of transaction activity were evenly split, with roughly a third of agents indicating they had fewer transactions compared to March 2025, and the same share reporting year-over-year growth. Just under 1 in 3 said transaction activity has been about the same.
Buyer advantage narrows: The market may be balancing out, with fewer agents saying that their market favors buyers in March (40%) than in February (45%). One in four respondents said their market favors sellers, while 35% reported a balanced market.
While some economists had predicted that the housing market would regain some balance in 2026, economic concerns related to rising energy prices and inflation amid the war in the Middle East have threatened to offset that progress. According to Real’s survey, 45% of agents said affordability was the biggest challenge for buyers, up from 41% one month earlier.