Tim Maitski of the Atlanta Report predicts that internet powerhouse Zillow might creep into the national scene to become a replacement for the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) operated by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

According to Maitski:

Zillow has the potential to be the standard national MLS system open and free to anyone and everyone. They just introduced a free listing system as a new feature. If they can entice a critical mass of people to put their listings into their system, then it will be a must for everyone who wants to sell a home.

I have a feeling they might have a hard time convincing all the Realtors to put their listings on there but their system is so easy to use that the sellers could very easily do it themselves. So the challenge to Zillow will be to try to become a household name. They seem to be getting a lot of free press lately so it might not be that difficult. In a few years if your home isn’t listed on Zillow it will be the same as someone without email or a cell phone.

I agree with Tim that the company with the best chance of succeeding with a national online MLS is Zillow. Over a year ago, I proposed creating a national online MLS. Since then, states like Maine have taken steps towards breaking down the NAR monopoly over MLSs, but the Zillow news is a breakthorugh.

I noticed earlier today that Zillow was now allowing realtors or homeowners to list their properties for sale. Since I’m currently selling one of my properties, I decided to give it a try and list on Zillow. It was very easy to do. The site is well planned out and the properties for sale addition will certainly raise the stakes for Zillow, but there are quite a few things which make me somewhat nervous. I’ll discuss the most important one, security.

Security Problems

The only security check to determine if you are the actual owner of the property is a dropdown list of names. You have to pick who the real owner of the property is, which takes 3 seconds to find out using public records. I could very easily just list a few homes for sale in my neighborhood on Zillow, theoretically raise the comparable prices for my property, then list my home and trick users into paying a premium. People believe what they see, which makes this “scam” an easy one. Trouble makers could easily game the system in its current form and harm innocent property owners.

At this point, it is still early in the process. Zillow could fix the security issues and other problems and grow to become a true giant - the National MLS. On the other hand, it might just continue to churn along, and sit amongst the crowd of other MLS coulda-beens. I guess we’ll soon find out!

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed or sign up for our real estate social network. Thanks for visiting!

Tags: listing, MLS, multiple, NAR, national, Real Estate Websites, realtor, service, zestimate

Pending home sales data for August was just released by the National Association of Realtors. According to the Pending Home Sales Index, “contracts signed in August, rose 4.3 percent to a level of 110.1 from a reading of 105.6 in July, but is 14.1 percent lower than August 2005.”

David Lereah, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, said that the over supply of homes for sale in the US should be drawn down as the inventory of new homes coming on the market slows.

Just to clarify - homes are considered pending once entered into contract, and stay pending until the sale is closed. Pending home sales is often used to measure the health of the housing market.

Tags: association, home, housing, index, NAR, national, of, pending, Realtors, sales

The National Association of Realtors today reported that the median home price in the US fell in August to $225,000 down 1.7% from August of 2005. This is the first time a year over year decline in median home prices has occured since April 1995.

According to The New York Times: “David Lereah, chief economist of the association, said he expects prices to continue to fall. “We do expect an adjustment in home prices to last several months, as we work through a buildup in the inventory of homes on the market,” he said in a written statement. “This is the price correction we’ve been expecting — with sales stabilizing, we should go back to positive price growth early next year.”

At the end of August, there were enough unsold, previously owned homes on the market that it would take 7½ months to sell them all at the current sales pace. The association said that was a bigger backlog than at any time since April 1993.”

Hear that? That quiet hissing sound you’re hearing seems like the beginning of a deflating bubble . . .

Tags: association, bubble, home, median, national, prices, Realtors