This decision has been taken following inspections carried out in November 2019. Such practices consist of “the coordination of prices and other commercial conditions by real estate intermediaries. The coordination would have been instrumented through the use of software and IT platforms, amongst other means, and would have been facilitated by companies specialising in IT solutions through the design of real estate management software programs and algorithms”, said the National Markets and Competition Commission (‘Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia’ or CNMC).
Companies
Specifically, the action is being taken against CDC Franquiciadora Inmobiliaria SA (whose franchises are known by the commercial name ReMax); Look & Find primera red inmobiliaria SA; Aplicaciones Inmovilla SL; Idealista SA; Witei Solutions SL; Anaconda Services and Real Estate Technologies SL; and Servicio Multiple de Exclusivas Inmobiliarias SL (MLS). The reason is the occurrence of possible practices to restrict competition, which are prohibited by Article 1 of Law 15/2007 of the Defence of Competition Act (LDC), as well as by Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFUE).
Both the companies and the supervisor have a maximum period of 18 months to investigate the case before it is resolved by the CNMC “without the opening of this file prejudicing the final outcome of the investigation”, says the body.
