A troubling plan to revive the frozen US property market

the us property market is frozen, and someone has a plan to thaw it: real estate "dark pools" — private, off-market trading platforms where buyers and sellers deal without public listings. the pitch is that these pools could get deals done when the traditional market is stuck. but the warning is blunt: buyers should beware. dark pools lack transparency, meaning you don't know what comparable properties are actually trading for. pricing becomes a black box, and the usual market signals — days on market, list-to-sale ratios — vanish. for a buyer, that's a recipe for overpaying. the revival plan might work for sellers and brokers, but it comes with real risk for anyone on the other side of the trade.