The Battle for an Idea

Message from Dionna Hall, 2023 CMLS Chair-Elect

The time has come for the MLS community to tell its story. Watching others shape the popular understanding of how the housing market works or should work is no longer acceptable. Falsehoods can no longer be tolerated. The stakes are too high. 

It’s time to respond.

CMLS has formally launched the Champions of MLS campaign to power that response. Almost 35 organizations - MLSs and companies that support MLSs - have already committed their support. I am asking you to join us and support the campaign.

If you spend a little time looking at how residential real estate markets work outside of North America, one thing becomes clear: it’s a mess. 

In Australia, homebuyers bid in live auctions held in front yards. Many do not have professional representation. Most lack a clear picture of the housing market. In Italy, sellers often list their homes with several agents, and inaccurate or outdated information on their home can linger on a myriad of websites months or years after their property sells. From Mumbai to Munich, Sao Paulo to St. Petersburg, residential real estate is shadowy, scattered, and woefully inefficient. Listings are scattered. Accurate market data is scarce. Consumers are left in the dark. 

There is one reason for this dysfunction: There is no MLS.

The multiple listing service network, unique to the United States and Canada, provides the foundation of data, rules, security, and accuracy that make our marketplaces the most transparent, liquid, pro-consumer system in the world. It is the MLS that powers virtually all public-facing home search websites and apps that millions of consumers rely upon to make housing decisions. It is the MLS that real estate professionals count on every day for reliable, real-time housing data. 

It is the MLS that gives real estate consumers clear answers to basic and critically important questions, like:

• How’s the market? 

• How much is my home worth?

• How much should I offer on this home?

• Is now a good time for me to buy or sell?

And yet in recent years, the MLS has come under attack. There is a group of litigants and plaintiffs’ attorneys who are telling their own stories about the MLS. They claim that the MLS is anti-competitive, and therefore anti-consumer. We know this is false. But they’re being loud. They’re telling their story and it is impacting the national conversation about the MLS. We need to be loud, too. We need to tell our story.

The battle for an idea.

The MLS is a good idea — one that has evolved over time to meet the changing needs of consumers. Nearly 30 years ago, when the first home listings were placed on the internet, MLSs evolved to meet the moment, and the MLS marketplace of today ensures that the real estate information consumers view online is timely and accurate across the digital landscape. Our North American real estate market may not be perfect. But for those who seek a housing world in which information about shelter is accurate and widely accessible -- 

The MLS is an idea worth fighting for.

The Champions of MLS campaign has begun with a focus on two objectives:

1. Investing in economic and legal research that quantifies the pro-consumer and pro-competitive nature of the MLS. A respected econometrician has already been retained and has commenced work. 

2. Securing the legal support and expertise needed to ensure the MLS industry has a seat at the table in discussions with federal regulators. Attorneys with experience interfacing with the DOJ and FTC have been retained to complete a white paper articulating the value of multiple listing services.

It’s time to act.

We all share the belief that the MLS sustains a housing market that is efficient, accurate, transparent, and open to all. We need your support – please join me in telling our story. It’s time to Champion the MLS!