NAREB President Ashley Thomas Speaks Out on Private Listing Networks and Housing Equality
In a candid and historically informed conversation, National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) President Ashley Thomas sat down for his first Inman Interview to address one of the most pressing issues facing Black homebuyers and sellers today: the rise of private listing networks. Drawing a direct line between current industry practices and a long, painful history of exclusion, Thomas made a compelling case for why the real estate industry must remain vigilant about policies that may appear neutral on the surface but carry deeply unequal consequences in practice.
What Are Private Listing Networks and Why Do They Matter?
Private listing networks — sometimes called pocket listings or office exclusives — are property listings that are marketed and sold outside of the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Rather than being made available to all licensed agents and their clients simultaneously, these properties are shared within a select network of brokers, agents, or clients before ever reaching the open market.
Proponents of private listings argue they offer sellers greater privacy, reduced showing traffic, and a more streamlined sales process. High-net-worth clients, in particular, are frequently cited as beneficiaries of this approach. However, critics — including Thomas and NAREB — argue that what benefits a narrow group of wealthy sellers comes at a significant cost to buyers and sellers who are already working with fewer resources and less institutional support.
When listings are withheld from the MLS, the pool of potential buyers shrinks dramatically. Buyers who rely on their agents to surface every available home in a target neighborhood — which disproportionately includes first-time homebuyers and buyers from communities of color — are effectively shut out of opportunities they never knew existed.
The Historical Parallel: MLS Exclusion and Systemic Racism in Real Estate
To understand why NAREB views private listing networks with such alarm, it is essential to understand the organization's history and the broader history of the MLS itself. NAREB was founded in 1947, decades before the Fair Housing Act of 1968, at a time when Black real estate professionals were explicitly excluded from joining the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and, by extension, from accessing the MLS.
This exclusion was not incidental — it was structural and intentional. Black agents could not access the same property databases as their white counterparts. Black buyers were systematically steered away from certain neighborhoods through practices like redlining, racially restrictive covenants, and discriminatory lending. The MLS, far from being a neutral tool, was for much of its history a mechanism that reinforced and perpetuated racial segregation in housing.
Thomas draws a direct parallel between that history and what private listing networks represent today. While today's pocket listings are not rooted in explicit racial animus, the effect of withholding listings from broad market access echoes the same structural inequity. When access to information is unequal, outcomes will be unequal — and those at the bottom of existing wealth hierarchies will consistently bear the greatest cost.
How Private Listing Networks Harm Black Buyers and Sellers
The harm operates in two directions, and Thomas is careful to address both sides of the transaction.
- Black buyers lose access to inventory. If a desirable home is sold through a private network before reaching the MLS, buyers working with agents outside that network never get the chance to make an offer. In competitive housing markets, where inventory is already tight, this compounds disadvantage for buyers who are often working with less generational wealth, smaller down payments, and less room for error in their housing search.
- Black sellers may receive less for their homes. The MLS drives competitive bidding by exposing a property to the widest possible audience. When a property is sold privately, it is typically sold to a narrower group of buyers, which can suppress the final sale price. For Black families whose home is often their primary — or only — wealth-building asset, a lower sale price represents a direct and lasting financial injury.
Thomas emphasizes that housing wealth is not merely a personal financial matter. It is the engine of intergenerational wealth transfer, college funding, retirement security, and community investment. Policies that systematically reduce the sale prices Black homeowners receive, or that reduce Black buyers' access to available inventory, do not just affect individuals — they affect entire communities across generations.
Technology, Transparency, and the Future of Fair Housing
Beyond the specific issue of private listings, Thomas also addressed the role of technology in shaping housing equality. Technology has the potential to be a powerful equalizer — providing buyers and sellers with more information, more tools, and more agency than any previous generation. But technology can also amplify existing inequities if it is designed or deployed in ways that favor those who are already advantaged.
NAREB's position is that any technology platform, data-sharing tool, or listing network that operates outside the MLS must be scrutinized for its equity implications. The organization advocates for open, transparent, and universally accessible listing infrastructure as a baseline requirement for a fair housing market.
NAREB's Ongoing Mission in a Changing Market
Founded more than seven decades ago in direct response to racial exclusion, NAREB has always understood that the rules governing real estate markets are never truly neutral. The organization continues to advocate for policies that promote democracy in housing — a phrase central to NAREB's mission — by ensuring that every buyer and every seller has equal access to information, opportunity, and representation.
Ashley Thomas's comments serve as a timely reminder that progress in housing equity is not linear. Each generation must re-examine the tools and practices of its own moment with the same critical eye that earlier generations trained on redlining and MLS exclusion. Private listing networks, Thomas argues, deserve exactly that scrutiny.
Conclusion: Equity Requires Vigilance
The conversation between housing equity and industry innovation is not a new one, but it is a conversation that must continue with honesty and historical awareness. NAREB President Ashley Thomas has made clear that the organization will remain a watchful voice whenever industry practices — new or old, intentional or structural — threaten to roll back the gains that Black buyers and sellers have fought so hard to achieve. In a housing market still marked by significant racial wealth gaps, the stakes of getting this right could not be higher.