As presented at Clareity26
Recently, I examined the top 100 largest MLSs, to benchmark the industry’s technology progress. This is the type of classic Clareity Consulting research that clients have always enjoyed, so I thought I would share it here at the Workshop. At its core, the question this presentation begs is this: “Is your MLS on track with its technology roadmap, or does the future require a pivot?”
My thought was, in the context of strategic planning, MLSs would need to continue to evaluate their offerings to be competitive. I posited, going back to the chapter I wrote for Stefan Swanpoel’s Trends report more than a decade ago, that MLSs would eventually consolidate, at a minimum, to 30 or 40 following the consumer commute patterns that make up the natural clustering of real estate markets – and a national MLS would not be ideal. We’re down to under 500 MLSs in North America and MLSs are only going to become more competitive as the consolidation trend continues – and technology is a significant part of competing. So, I went to MLS websites to see what categories of technology they have advertised as member benefits.
I didn’t list forms as a category since those are often provided at the state level or via associations. And lockboxes because they are such table stakes. And artificial intelligence is generically not listed – I consider AI a “how” – embedded in increasingly more of the other tech categories MLSs field today. But I ended up looking at 46 categories of software and data.
What was interesting was that some of the largest MLSs, intent on growth, have between 24 and 28 of the categories represented and the median in the top 100 was 10. Researching further, into MLSs 101 to 200, the median was 5 categories. This was a good number back in 2003, when I kicked off CMLS and called for MLSs to add more data and a few more categories of technology. But over the last 20 years large MLSs have adopted more, and the chasm has grown. I do want to point out that it’s not all big versus small MLSs – there are some small MLSs that have excelled at fielding technology and data, and some larger MLSs that have not.
I divided offerings into categories: Core Workflows, Plumbing, Data, Marketing, Security, Cross-Market Collaboration, and Other Technology and listed out the percentage adoption in the top 100 MLSs. I think you’ll find it interesting. Again, to create this I looked at websites – “Benefits” offered, social media and training calendars, and I am aware that some MLSs don’t list their offerings in an easy to find place, and some don’t bother at all, which is an area for improvement. I should point out that a low percentage listed can mean a relatively newer category or one that has more importance in some regions (for example, offer management, AI assistants, and ADU data).
[I’m not going to publish my comments on a few of the categories – standards, security, and mobile.]
I think it’s going to be increasingly important that MLSs evaluate their tech stack. It’s important to have a process of technology evaluation, and deciding whether each technology and data type are core integrated offerings, tiered offerings, or a la carte offerings – or, if there’s really no need for specific tech or data in your market and surrounding markets. I hope this is something you include in your MLS strategic planning.