Key facts
- Some industry leaders criticize the MLS as anti-consumer and anti-competitive.
- Brokers like Boomer Foster and Steven Koleno argue the MLS levels the playing field for smaller firms.
- Steven Koleno achieved significant sales volume through an MLS-only brokerage model.
- CMLS white papers emphasize the MLS's role in data accuracy, timeliness, and fostering competition.
- Edgeworth Economics describes MLSs as cooperative agreements generating network effects.
- A Doorify MLS report indicated homes sold via MLS received 20% higher offers.
While some in the real estate industry criticize the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) as anti-consumer and anti-competitive, brokers argue it is a vital tool for fostering competition and enabling smaller firms to succeed.
Boomer Foster, founder of Paul Wesley Real Estate, stated that the MLS was originally intended as an open marketplace to consolidate listing data and prevent market fragmentation. He believes it helps smaller brokerages compete with larger ones by ensuring all listings are visible.
Steven Koleno, vice president of consumer empowerment at Spot Real Estate, attributes his high-volume business, which includes significant sales as an MLS-only broker, to the MLS's competitive structure. He reported 2,083 transaction sides totaling $701.97 million in sales volume in 2025, contrasting his success with the lower average sales per agent at large national firms.
Koleno noted that approximately 17% of home sales are handled by limited-service or MLS-only brokers, underscoring the MLS's role in enabling this segment of the market. He asserted that the MLS is essential for brokers like him and other small independent firms to compete effectively.
Jessica Edgerton, CEO of the Council of MLSs (CMLS), views the MLS as a key driver of a healthy, pro-consumer, and pro-competition real estate ecosystem. She believes it protects the brokerage space from anti-competitive monopolization and allows small to mid-sized brokerages to maintain independence and compete on equal footing with larger national firms.
CMLS has released white papers emphasizing the timeliness, accuracy, consistency, and completeness of MLS listing data. A memorandum prepared by Edgeworth Economics characterizes MLSs as cooperative information-sharing agreements that generate powerful network effects, where more listings and participants increase the value for everyone. The paper argues that restricting centralized MLS data sharing would increase search costs, reduce listing exposure, weaken data quality, and disadvantage smaller brokers.
Data from Doorify MLS indicates that for about 94% of listings, the buyer is represented by an agent from a different brokerage, highlighting the network effect. A Doorify MLS report also found that homes sold through a real estate professional using the MLS marketplace received offers that were, on average, 20% higher, translating to an average lift of $90,000 for sellers.
Conversely, a mid-July 2026 report from Compass, a proponent of private listing networks, claimed that sellers whose properties began as Compass Private Exclusives or Coming Soon listings sold for 4.6% more and had a 34% faster time to contract once they went active on the MLS.
Edgerton acknowledged that some consumers may have valid reasons for not wanting their listings publicly marketed, but stressed that the impact of withholding listings from the MLS on homebuyers and their agents is often overlooked. She stated that the MLS provides clients with the ability to maximize exposure and price for their homes while ensuring buyers have robust access to inventory in a tight market, preventing firms from monopolizing inventory through off-MLS means.