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November 18, 2006
Realtors open up listing service - All properties to be included on public Web sites
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - November 1, 2006 by Michele Derus
Milwaukee,WI -- Online home shoppers will soon see lots more "for sale" listings on Realtor.com, the industry's biggest Web site.
The National Association of Realtors said Friday that it has directed its 850 Multiple Listing Service operators to include all property listings in data feeds to public Web sites, not just those guaranteeing agents a full sales commission.
Until now, the trade group took no stand on some MLS operators' practice of shielding from public view offerings called exclusive agency listings, which let sellers save on realty commissions by finding their own buyer.
"These actions standardize distribution of MLS data to external Web sites for the first time, and ensure that all listings are treated equally," said NAR President Pat Vredevoogd Combs.
Realtor.com is the industry's major online marketing forum, with 3.9 million listings nationwide. But the policy change will affect a host of other MLS-fed public Web sites across the country. That includes Wihomes.com and Wisconsinhomes.com, which together have about 50,000 listings.
"This will be a big boon for our customers," said Ann Telthorst, marketing director of Owners .com in San Francisco, a nationwide service for "For Sale By Owner" sellers who don't hire a listing agent.
Until now, however, not everybody has been allowed to see low-commission properties, Telthorst said. Some sellers have had their listings squelched by MLS operators in locales where anti-discount sentiments run strong, she said.
Realtors, who created and oversee the MLS network, have been under tremendous regulatory and public pressure in recent months to change. Putting part of their historically private databank information on the Internet - a public forum - obliged Realtors to treat every listing the same, in the view of the Federal Trade Commission.
Culling some listings while publicizing others "means a whole bunch of competitors are dictating terms for everyone," FTC spokesman Patrick J. Roach said last month. "That's antitrust."
Roach, deputy assistant director in the commission's Bureau of Competition, meant it. His agency announced enforcement actions Oct. 12 against MLS operators in seven U.S. markets, including Appleton-based Realtors Association of Northeast Wisconsin Inc. The Appleton group agreed to change its policies, as did MLS operators in Colorado, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Virginia. Two Michigan MLS operators indicated they'd rather fight than switch, however.
Within days, southeast Wisconsin's Metro MLS announced it was a regulatory target and would no longer excise any listings.
Asked Friday about the Realtors' new policy, Roach said: "It appears a beneficial change. But they've inserted some new restrictions, which might present some antitrust risks. So we'll continue to monitor this situation."
The new restrictions: MLS operators can exclude listings that specify a home address or display a "For Sale By Owner" sign, indicators of a seller intent of dealing directly with would-be buyers.
Steve Cook, vice president of public affairs for the National Association of Realtors, said his group's directive was meant to appease regulators. He said he couldn't comment on details, however. "The lawyers were handling all this."
Peter Shuttleworth, executive vice president of Wisconsin's Metro MLS, said "the Internet has introduced a lot of new opportunities and expectations for those who use MLS in the purchase and sale of real estate. I hope this brings a positive response from government agencies, this show of our good faith."
