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Most home sales in this country take place through a multiple listing service, or MLS. That’s the regional database real estate agents use to share information about properties for sale. These services have been in the news a lot lately as they implement changes put in place after a big legal settlement over real estate commissions. But what is an MLS, and how does it work?
“The first MLS, that we know of, was developed in 1885 in San Diego,” said Frederik Heller, director of the library and archives at the National Association of REALTORS®.
Based on limited information researchers could find, Heller said, every day, twice a day, the San Diego real estate board would provide updated listings to all its members.
“I believe what they did is they had runners go throughout the city to the different real estate brokerages and distribute them that way,” he said.
Cleveland and Chicago adopted similar systems. Back then, Heller said, anyone could declare themselves a real estate broker. There were no education requirements or state licensing laws.
“So the multiple listings sort of gave real estate brokers a way to exchange information with people that they trusted, and it was a way to get the most up-to-date information about properties that were for sale,” he said.
In the 1920s, the National Association of Real Estate Boards — the precursor to today’s National Association of REALTORS® — pushed for wider adoption of the services, and they exploded in the post-war housing boom of the 1950s.