MLS revenue-sharing venture moving ahead of schedule
REdistribute, which sells data from participating MLSs to institutional users, now covers nearly half of U.S. residential properties.
Key points:
- The venture, which was launched in April by several large MLSs, expects to have nationwide coverage by the end of the year.
- CEO Amy Gorce said REdistribute should start generating revenue in the third quarter. Royalties will be shared with participating MLSs.
- Several other collaborative MLS ventures have taken off this year, including consumer search portal Nestfully and data-sharing agreements.
A joint venture between several Multiple Listing Services to provide accurate data for institutional users across the country is picking up steam.
REdistribute, which intends to monetize MLS data by selling it to companies like insurance and mortgage firms and then share the revenue with participating MLSs, hit a coverage milestone of nearly 50% of all U.S. residential real estate properties, which was ahead of schedule according to a news release. Amy Gorce, acting CEO of REdistribute, said they hope to have national coverage of around 80% by the end of the year.
The venture, which launched in April, is funded by some of the country's largest MLSs — Bright MLS, CRMLS, BeachesMLS, REcolorado and Stellar MLS — and has been adding participants each month with "a healthy pipeline of additional MLS organizations" interested in joining.
To date, MLSs across 28 states have signed onto the venture, which now covers some of the biggest housing markets in the U.S., including California, Florida, New York and the District of Columbia.
Gorce said they've begun making connections in local markets and expect to start generating revenue next quarter.
REdistribute's data product is designed to help institutional users — companies like mortgage and insurance firms — make better valuation and risk-management decisions. Because of data collection rules enforced by the MLSs, REdistribute can offer those firms the most up-to-date information.
The entities purchasing the data can use it internally but are prohibited from displaying any listing data publicly. Participating MLSs receive royalties from the venture and can choose how to spend or distribute those funds.
"We know that REdistribute has built a modern technological architecture that provides the most timely and accurate property listing data available in the country," said Matt Fowler, CEO of Raleigh-Durham, NC-based Triangle MLS. "We had to be a part of this movement and deliver value to our agents and brokers for the data they work so hard to collect and maintain."
REdistribute is one of several recent collaborative ventures among MLSs. Nestfully, a consumer search platform launched by Bright MLS and CRMLS in March, has been adding participants including early adopter REcolorado. And in February, Bright and CRMLS also teamed up with BeachesMLS to launch a data-sharing plan. More recently, UtahRealEstate.com and New Mexico MLS also announced a data-sharing agreement.