For those who didn’t get to catch every minute of the real estate competition workshop held by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) last week, the FTC has posted videos from the workshop on its website.
The first video features the June 5 event’s opening speakers, FTC attorney Andrea Zach, FTC chairman Joseph J. Simons and Inman publisher Brad Inman. The latter’s remarks were titled “The Real Estate Innovation Road: How Far Have We Traveled?” The video also contains the first of three main panels of the event, called “Listings Data, Emerging Technology, and the Structure of the Real Estate Market.” The panel’s moderators were Jessica Drake of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition and Matthew D. Siegel of the DOJ’s Antitrust Division. The panelists were:
- Art Carter, CEO of the California Regional Multiple Listing Service and chair of the Real Estate Standards Organization;
- Luke Glass, executive vice president of Industry Platforms at realtor.com
- Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin
- Kathleen Philips, chief legal officer of Zillow Group
The second video contains the second panel, titled “Developments in Real Estate Fee and Service Models,” which Karen A. Mills of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition and Erica S. Mintzer of the DOJ’s Antitrust Division moderated. The panelists were:
- Simon Chen, president and CEO of ERA Franchise Systems LLC at Realogy Holdings Corp.
- Eric Eckardt, U.S. CEO of Purplebricks
- Khalil Alexander El-Ghoul, principal broker of Glass House Real Estate
- Joshua Hunt, CEO of Trelora
The third video includes the third panel, called “Regulatory and Industry Factors Affecting Residential Real Estate Competition,” as well as closing remarks from Robert A. Potter, chief of the DOJ Antitrust Division’s Competition Policy and Advocacy Section. Matthew C. Mandelberg, an attorney in that section, and William F. Adkinson, Jr., an attorney adviser for the FTC’s Office of Policy Planning, moderated the third panel. The panelists were:
- Panle Jia Barwick, associate professor of economics at Cornell University
- Stephen Brobeck, executive director at the Consumer Federation of America
- Katie Johnson, general counsel and senior vice president of the National Association of Realtors
- Brian N. Larson, associate professor of law at Texas A&M University School of Law and counsel at Larson Skinner PLLC
The FTC and DOJ will continue to accept public comments on real estate competition through July 31, 2018. The agencies will display the comments they receive on their websites. Comments may be submitted here.
