DENVER, CO (September 4, 2024) – REcolorado and IRES MLS, the two largest real estate multiple listing services in Colorado, today announced a data exchange and integration agreement that will ensure listing information on residential properties remains visible to each other’s subscribers. The agreement updates an existing data share agreement from October 2020.
Under the updated agreement, REcolorado and IRES MLS each will continue to license active and historical residential, attached dwelling, vacant land, income property, and farm and ranch listings data to the other, including descriptions, photographs, pricing information, videos and virtual tours, for use by the MLS users of each service. The full set of combined data will be integrated into the products and services offered by each MLS, including their MLS systems, showing services, data feeds, contract systems, and more. The two multiple listing services provide listing data to more than 32,000 Colorado real estate professionals, including REALTORS®, real estate appraisers and others. They also are the source of data for Colorado real estate brokers’ websites and aggregators of real estate listing and market data.
Ease of access to listing data from both services remains a priority and no changes are anticipated in the way MLS participants currently access and view data.
“Multiple listing services like REcolorado and IRES MLS are powerful information resources that exist to encourage cooperation among real estate professionals, making it easier for them to help their clients buy and sell homes,” said Larry McGee, interim CEO of REcolorado. “At a time of such dynamic change in the residential real estate market, here in Colorado and across the U.S., we’re delighted to offer our subscribers the stability that this agreement represents. We’re also bringing them more information and a platform to connect with thousands more Colorado real estate professionals and their customers.”
While data integration between REcolorado and IRES MLS is expected to continue without interruption, the updated agreement extends the termination notification period to ensure stability for subscribers. The agreement covers residential listings only at this time, but both parties have agreed to work toward the inclusion of commercial properties in the future.
REcolorado and IRES MLS together typically account for the vast majority of active residential listings in Colorado. At the time the updated data integration agreement was signed, there were approximately 23,500 active listings in the two multiple listing services combined.
Real estate professionals use historical listing information to advise clients on marketing and pricing strategy for homes for sale. REcolorado and IRES MLS have agreed to share with each other listing information dating back five years from the agreement date. With active and historical listing information included, there are nearly 318,000 records available for use by real estate professionals as a result of the agreement.
“Northern Front Range real estate professionals operate in a fast-paced, highly competitive regional market that doesn’t stop at city or county lines,” said Jeff Bosch, CEO of IRES MLS. “The ability to view and use listing information from throughout the region, and to have active listings seen by a much larger audience of real estate professionals without having to subscribe to two different multiple listing services, is a tremendous value for participants in both systems. Reaching this updated data exchange and integration agreement is great news for Colorado real estate professionals and their customers.”
As part of the agreement, REcolorado and IRES MLS each agreed that their respective multiple listing services and systems will be operated in compliance with the terms of the recent settlement in litigation brought against the National Association of REALTORS®. This settlement requires that multiple listing services cannot be used by listing agents to offer cooperative compensation for real estate professionals.
While cooperation is the foundation of the multiple listing service and real estate professionals are free to discuss cooperative compensation, it cannot be displayed on the MLS. REcolorado and IRES MLS have removed historical cooperative compensation from their respective systems, have removed compensation fields and are monitoring listings going forward to ensure compliance with the NAR settlement.