I've seen the effects of this monopoly even before the Internet age, and this is a pretty accurate article. The data on the MLS is not rocket science, it could be trivially reimplemented in a lot better ways than it has been.
In defense of real estate agents, however, they aren't necessarily willing participants in this fiasco. For instance, a city's real estate board can charge agents fees (and really, really, really ridiculous fees) for access to the service. And there's no choice: it's the only way to be a realtor. Agents suck it up like just another cost of doing business, but the reality is that the real estate boards are acting extremely unethically.
"And there's no choice: it's the only way to be a realtor."
Important nitpick: Realtor is a registered trademark of the National Association of Realtors. Not all real estate agents are Realtors. It's yet another racket in the industry.
In defense of real estate agents, however, they aren't necessarily willing participants in this fiasco. For instance, a city's real estate board can charge agents fees (and really, really, really ridiculous fees) for access to the service. And there's no choice: it's the only way to be a realtor. Agents suck it up like just another cost of doing business, but the reality is that the real estate boards are acting extremely unethically.