[quote=njtosd]All the sites that I checked (Realtor.com, redfin.com, SDLookup.com) still list homes even when they are contingent, so that doesn’t seem to be the problem.[/quote]

SDLookup does not list them once they are pending. (They do list contingent though. And in case you’re not aware, contingent and pending are different)

[quote=njtosd]And my understanding was that once a house was listed with a realtor, the realtor was required (either by listing agreement, ethical rules or something else) to get it up on the MLS as quickly as possible (assuming that the seller wanted it done that way). In this market, I can’t understand why a seller (or seller’s agent) wouldn’t want the exposure . . .[/quote]

There is an option for the realtor to check that signals this listing is NOT to be put on the internet. That could be because the agent prefers to find a buyer and thus get both halves of the commission, or because the agent doesn’t want to hassle with internet shoppers (wanting instead buyers represented by other agents) or because the seller doesn’t want the fact they are selling or the info about the listing to be publicly available. At other times agents don’t list on the mls at all, (so called pocket listings) in hopes that they can get both sides of the deal.

While I agree that it would be in the sellers interest to have the listing out on the internet as soon as possible, I’ve seen/heard lots of things done/said that are not in the seller’s interest by their agents.