MLS 2.0

The California Association of Realtors is mulling over some important plans for the future of multiple listing services and their content.

The group has approved an engineering project that will map out data fields from MLSs throughout the state -- a project that could serve as the backbone for a statewide MLS database or a consolidated statewide MLS (see Inman News).

Association officials are expected to weigh these options at a meeting in October. There are currently about 70 MLSs in operation in the state, and some agents and brokers join multiple MLSs -- which means paying multiple fees and complying with multiple sets of rules. Brokers who work in multiple markets don't like this.

Participation in either project would be voluntary. The state Realtor group plans to study regional MLS data-sharing and consolidation efforts that are already in progress in the state. Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors is studying the creation of a national real estate data repository that could form the basis for a nationwide MLS.

This path is fraught with potential pitfalls, though, as MLS consolidation threatens jobs and control at the hundreds of local and regional MLSs across the country. Technology is not the problem.

Will brokers and their agents prevail in the drive to simplify and unify MLSs ... or at least the MLS data? Is the industry ready for this?

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