If you have been searching for a home in New York, San Francisco, or another major U.S. market and felt like the listings you see online never quite match what is actually available, you are not imagining things.

A recent investigation by the New York Post reveals just how much of the American real estate market has quietly moved out of public view. The report focuses on the country’s largest independent brokerage, formed after a major acquisition of a national real estate franchise network, and its growing practice of keeping listings off public databases like Zillow and StreetEasy. According to the article, the firm controls 21.6% of the market nationwide, and in Manhattan that figure climbs to a striking 80%.

The company frames this as a service to sellers. Listings typically move through three stages: first as a “Private Exclusive” shared only among its roughly 340,000 agents, then as a “Coming Soon” preview on select sites, and only later as a fully public listing. It argues this staged approach helps homes sell faster and for more money.

But not everyone agrees. Housing analyst Jonathan Miller of StreetMatrix told the Post that this practice is “a major setback in the homebuying process to the 1950s.” James Dwiggins, CEO of a rival brokerage, was even more direct, arguing that a home’s true value can only be established when it is exposed to the entire market rather than a single company’s internal network.

The article includes real examples of what this means in practice. A San Francisco couple who initially listed their condo privately, at their agent’s suggestion, only received their asking price after two showings. When that deal fell through and they relisted publicly on the MLS and Zillow, they sold six days later for 100,000 dollars above their original target. On the buyer side, a Florida entrepreneur spent weeks trying to reach the listing agent for a home he found on his own, only to discover it was a “Coming Soon” property invisible to anyone outside that brokerage’s network. By the time it surfaced publicly, it had already sold, for what he estimates was 40,000 dollars less than he would have paid.

The implications are especially significant in markets like Manhattan, where this level of market concentration means buyers relying on standard search portals may be missing the majority of available inventory without ever knowing it. States including Washington, Wisconsin, and Connecticut are already moving to restrict or ban off-market listings, with similar measures pending in New York, Illinois, and Hawaii. New York’s Attorney General has an active antitrust investigation into the firm’s market footprint.

What This Means If You Are Buying or Selling From Abroad

For our clients, many of whom are navigating the U.S. market from Italy or introducing American buyers to opportunities in Italy, this story is a reminder of something we have long believed: access and relationships matter more than ever in a market that is becoming harder to see into from the outside.

An international buyer searching Zillow or StreetEasy from Milan or Florence is, by definition, one step removed from the market. If four out of every five Manhattan listings are moving through a single brokerage’s private channels before they ever reach a public site, a buyer without a well-connected local partner is operating with a fraction of the picture, often without realizing it.

This is precisely the gap Columbus International was built to close. Headquartered at Rockefeller Center in New York, with offices in Miami, Milan, and Florence, we sit inside the relationships and networks that determine which properties our clients see, and when. Whether you are an Italian investor exploring the American market for the first time, or an American buyer looking toward Italy, our role is to make sure you are never searching from the outside looking in.

On the seller’s side, the same principle applies in reverse. A private, staged rollout may suit some sellers in some circumstances, but as this reporting shows, it is not automatically the path to the best outcome. The right strategy depends on your specific property, timing, and goals, and that is a conversation worth having with a broker who understands both sides of the Atlantic.

If you are thinking about buying or selling in New York, Miami, Milan, or Florence, and want a clear, honest read on what is actually happening in today’s market, we invite you to reach out to Columbus International.

Contact: info@columbusintl.com

Source: Lauren Elkies Schram, “See why a majority of Manhattan home listings are hidden from view,” New York Post, August 18, 2026.