Thousands of Zillow listings in Chicago have vanished. Here's why

Potential buyers browsing Zillow or Trulia for homes in the Chicago area have likely noticed significantly fewer listings.

That’s because the real estate company Zillow Group lost access Wednesday to thousands of property listings for its two websites, in the latest escalation of a legal battle with Lisle-based Midwest Real Estate Data.

The fight is over MRED’s private listing network, where homes for sale are shared among real estate professionals. And MRED followed through on a threat to cut Zillow’s access to its listing data feed.

There were nearly 5,000 Chicago homes listed on Zillow Tuesday, but as of Wednesday afternoon, that number plummeted to about 1,700. Meanwhile, other listing sites like Redfin and Realtor.com show about 5,000 to 8,000 listings in Chicago.

MRED manages listings — submitted by brokers — throughout Illinois, as well as parts of Wisconsin and Indiana. The regional multiple listing service has more than 43,000 members and processed more than 264,000 listings worth $43 billion in 2025.

The loss of listings on Zillow’s websites have made a behind-the-scenes real estate industry fight public. And it now hinders some consumers in their search to buy a home, while also limiting the marketing opportunity for sellers.

To read the full report, visit chicago.suntimes.com.