An industry-led initiative

Brokerages and Franchisees: Sign the Letter of Support Agents: Get Updates

Our promises

The proposed platform

Housing Markets Must Remain Open To All

From

For generations, the U.S. housing market has been built on a simple but powerful principle: broad access to listing information expands opportunity and promotes competition. When real estate professionals share information, buyers discover more homes, sellers reach more potential buyers, and that competition helps sellers and buyers achieve their best possible outcomes.

Today, that principle is being tested. Homes are increasingly marketed privately, outside public listing systems, and in ways that limit competition and reduce transparency. Differences in how listing information is collected, maintained and shared across the industry can undermine its consistency, comparability and accessibility.

When listings and property data are fragmented or restricted, buyers risk missing available homes, sellers risk reaching fewer potential buyers, and the transparency and competition that underpin a healthy housing market weaken.

We believe that access, information and transparency should be a benefit, not a barrier to anyone looking to purchase or sell a home. Buyers deserve fair and comprehensive access to available housing information. It's equally important that sellers have an honest understanding of how their homes are being marketed, who they are reaching, and the opportunities they may gain or sacrifice when deciding how best to market their home for sale. A healthy market is one where sellers can make truly informed decisions, buyers have access to the broadest possible inventory, and success is determined by those who create the most value—not those who control the most information.

That's why we have come together to build Open Real Estate, a shared, industry-led system designed to make it easier for real estate professionals — across all brands, of all sizes, in all locations across America — to enter listing information once and distribute it across MLSs, real estate portals, and other platforms.

We aim to give consumers more choice, real estate professionals more ways to serve their clients, and encourage industry competition.

Our commitment:

• Expand buyer opportunity. Consumers should benefit from broad access to available housing information and a more transparent marketplace.
• Empower informed seller decisions. Homeowners deserve clear, complete information about how their homes will be marketed, the exposure they can expect, and the potential benefits and trade-offs of different marketing approaches so they can make decisions that best serve their interests.
• Protect data integrity. All members (and users) should have full visibility to all homes available for sale and the information when sold.
• Promote fair competition. The system should make it easier for industry participants to share property information, with clear rules around governance and ownership designed to keep the platform open, fair and competitive.

This is not a walled garden or another marketplace that favors one company over another. Open Real Estate is designed to work alongside MLSs and existing real estate portals, making it easier for real estate professionals to share property information and connect buyers and sellers across the housing market.

Here’s how it works: Participating brokerages and agents create listings using standardized fields. Those listings are shared with member participants (brokerages and their agents) and are simultaneously syndicated to local MLSs, home search sites and other platforms, and industry participants, such as appraisers and data services. When all participating firm’s listings go into one place, fewer homes stay out of sight.

This effort is bigger than any one company. No single brokerage, technology company, portal, or trade organization should determine the future of housing information for everyone else.

For most of us, a home is not only our largest financial investment and a foundation for long-term stability. And any asset that carries this kind of significance in our life deserves a marketplace system that expands opportunities, not one that restricts them.

We’re creating Open Real Estate to build a stronger foundation for an open, competitive marketplace. And we invite every brokerage, every agent, and every organization that believes in an open marketplace to join us.

Brokerages and organizations can sign a letter of support below, and agents can sign up below to stay informed.

Founding Members

Sign the letter of support.

Brokerages, franchisees and MLSs that share Open Real Estate’s principles are invited to sign a non-binding letter of support and help shape governance and technology over the next six months.

Signing is a statement of intent and non-binding. Our team will follow up with next steps and informational sessions.

Read what you’re supporting →

Stay informed.

Agents are at the center of this effort. Sign up for updates on platform development, informational sessions, and how participating agents will share in the value of the listing data they contribute.