California MLS Providers Spread The Love Cheese!

This is huge news! Congrats to all MLS Providers involved and Andy Woolley and Bob Morse and their teams for making the impossible, possible…..

California MLSs Form New Mega-Data Sharing Group
New MLSAlliance™ Provides Single Search Platform to State’s MLS Listings

Boca Raton, FL (July 31, 2007) – In a unprecedented cooperation effort, ten MLS organizations in California have signed a joint data sharing agreement forming the California MLSAlliance, a new MLS gateway providing agents and brokers with a single source for accessing real estate information throughout California.

The new California MLSAlliance system was launched today and is now available to over 150,000 brokers and agents, providing access to over 2.5 million active listings and off-market properties combined from ten MLSs into one system. The system was developed and is managed by real estate technology provider eNeighborhoods, a Dominion Enterprises company.

California is a prime example of today’s real estate market. Brokers and agents conduct business throughout the state, often across the traditional MLS boundaries. With the new MLSAlliance system, brokers and agents who belong to one of the 45 local real estate associations serviced by the ten participating MLSs can now search one system to find listings spanning across the state. The joint data access agreement between the MLSs extends a blanket offer of compensation and cooperation to all authorized users of the California MLSAlliance.

“With all the focus these days on super regionalization, statewide and national databases, the California MLSAlliance is a great demonstration as to how easy it is for MLSs to work together for the common good,” said Russ Bergeron, CEO of Southern California MLS. “With a little work on our part, and the development effort of our partners at eNeighborhoods, we have seemingly overnight opened up access to millions of listings for our combined 150,000 customers. That’s what cooperation is all about.”

eNeighborhoods has been providing the MLSAlliance™ enterprise data-sharing platform, connecting multiple MLSs into a combined database since 1999. Currently used by more than 185,000 agents and brokers in multiple states, it is widely considered the benchmark in MLS data sharing technology.

“These ten MLSs deserve praise for the decisive and progressive steps they have taken to improve access to real estate information in California”, said Andy Woolley, vice president of eNeighborhoods. “They’re not just talking about it, they’ve made it happen, delivering to their customers the largest compilation of MLS data anywhere in the world.”

Tom Beede, MetroList president and CEO, added, “Distributing the MLS data from multiple MLS sources to a wide geographic audience of agents and brokers is an increasingly important service provided by MLSs today. Recognizing this importance, we’ve taken action with the California MLSAlliance group to quickly deliver a proven solution to our combined 150,000 customers. MLSAlliance greatly enhances the ability of real estate agents to more effectively serve their clients throughout California.”

The MLSs participating in the California MLSAlliance include the Bay Area Real Estate Information Services, Inc. (BAREIS MLS®), Combined L.A./Westside MLS (CLAW), CRISNet Regional MLS, East Bay Regional Data (EBRD), Greater South Bay Regional MLS, iTech MLS, MetroList Services, Multi-Regional MLS (MRMLS), San Francisco Association of REALTORS®, and Southern California MLS.

“We’re proud they selected eNeighborhoods as their technology partner and we look forward to further expansion of the MLSAlliance search platform throughout the state of California”, concluded Greg Robertson, vice president and general manager of eNeighborhoods.

About eNeighborhoods, LLC
eNeighborhoods™ is the nation’s premier compiler of real estate related home and neighborhood information, providing the real estate and marketing services industries with a comprehensive set of marketing and analytical tools. In 2002, eNeighborhoods became an endorsed REALTOR Benefits® of the National Association of REALTORS®. The company provides MLS data sharing and marketing tools to top MLS organizations in the United State, Canada, and Australia. The company also powers the Internet’s top real estate franchise website, remax.com, and maintains strategic alliances with major real estate franchisers, including RE/MAX International, Realogy, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, ERA, EXIT Realty, GMAC, Keller Williams, Prudential, Realty Executives and, as well as many of the major independent brokerages. eNeighborhoods is the proud founding sponsor of NAR’s Good Neighbor Awards which educates, encourages and rewards outstanding community service by real estate professionals throughout the country. eNeighborhoods is owned by Dominion Enterprises, Inc., a leading media and information services company serving employment, real estate, automotive, recreation and industrial markets in the United States. Dominion Enterprises has over 6,600 employees nationwide and 2006 annual revenue of over $850 million. For more information on the companies, visit www.eneighborhoods.com and www.dominionenterprises.com.