REX joined pro-consumer tech companies in urging Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to keep digital markets accessible to consumers and open to competition. Collaborating with REX on the letter, which was first reported in Politico’s Morning Tech, are numerous innovative platforms across the digital economy, including Yelp, Genius, Felt, Patreon, Beeper, OfferFit, and News Media Alliance.
“The U.S. must lead on housing access and affordability. Unfortunately, the real estate industry is doing all that it can to prevent consumers from accessing information online about homes for sale at competitive prices. REX stands for real estate consumers and delivers tech solutions to work around legacy real estate brokers that force consumers to pay 2 to 3 times the amount in commission than their European counterparts,” said REX Co-Founder and President Lynley Sides.
The tech letter on competition comes on the heels of testimony last week at a United States Senate hearing on consumer protection, where real estate was a focal point. Notre Dame Law Professor Roger Alford testified that “the residential real estate market is dominated by a consortium of real estate cooperatives that enforce a series of mandatory rules that keep prices high and reduce innovation.” Alford singled out REX as a broker delivering consumer-friendly commissions to homebuyers and sellers.
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During the same hearing, Diana Moss, President of the American Antitrust Institute, mentioned several companies, including Zillow, as having “all the same features as the big business digital ecosystems,” such as Google and Facebook. “We worry,” Moss continued, “about these companies because they are really rife with what we call market failures and economics.” A full video of the Senate hearing can be found here.
“Competition is the one thing both sides in Washington can agree on. During a U.S. Senate hearing into the practices of big tech, the President of the American Antitrust Institute testified that policymakers should be concerned not just about Google and Facebook, but also Zillow. As we look towards 2022, it appears lawmakers and regulators will continue to focus on competition, access to digital markets, and innovation. Real estate consumers will benefit from all of this,” said Michel Toth, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for REX.
