Imagine car shopping without the ability to compare data between vehicles. How would you make a decision if you didn’t know the vehicle’s top speed, towing rating, and miles per gallon? Although you could look at individual models and their features, it would be almost impossible to make data-driven purchasing decisions. This was the experience that consumers of real estate data systems had until now.
RESO Analytics provides transparency in real estate information. This new platform gives insight into industry-wide data trends and tools. RESO Analytics provides unprecedented detail through standard data reports that shows brokers and agents the state of their markets. This is critical for agents and brokers to be able to offer guidance to clients.
Dan Troup, Director of Data Operations and Strategy at RE/MAX, one the largest brokerage companies in the world, was involved in the development of this platform. Troup stated that the RESO Analytics platform is the final piece in validating RESO standards. “This platform will be the lens through which we view data to make informed decisions for our company as well as our industry.”
RESO Analytics is not just for brokerages and Multiple Listing Services, (MLSs). It also helps technology companies that are consumer-facing to innovate.
“Realtor.com is one of the most popular real estate sites in America, helping millions of people to put their homes up for rent or sale with features that are tailored to their needs,” said Bob Evans (VP of Industry Relations at Realtor.com). RESO Analytics is a game-changer in this regard. It will allow sites like Realtor.com to create and evolve online search experiences that empower customers with the information they need in today’s market.
Big Data from the MLS, Broad Insights from Analytics
MLSs are the main focal point for big data in real estate. They consolidate broker listings and make them available for agents, brokers, and consumers who use the technology tools.
RESO Analytics presents two new images of the MLS information. The telescope view shows how real estate data looks across the industry. This will allow for improved information analysis tools that can be used across borders and markets.
The second is a microscope, which shows the details of each system’s data set. This allows technology providers to better understand the views of their customers.
RESO Analytics shines a light on the industry’s data capabilities by providing comprehensive metrics about real estate technology systems’ data.
RESO Analytics: Individual Analysis with Microscope Reports
Joshua Darnell, RESO’s CTO, and Dan Troup, RE/MAX’s CTO, unveiled the RESO Analytics platform during RESO’s 2022 Spring Conference, Tucson, Arizona. They also highlighted the RESO Certification Analytics Subgroup, which focuses on certification analytics to help data consumers better understand their technology via extensive reporting. WATCH VIDEO (25:58 minutes)
Summary of Certification
Real estate technology system users – brokers, agents, home buyers and sellers, MLSs, and agents – now have a platform that allows them to compare the data capabilities of different information systems. These reports provide insights into technology alignment across MLSs, markets, and vendor software platforms.
Real estate business leaders will have access to the vast repository of RESO Analytics industry data that will enable them to make informed, data-driven choices about the technology they share with customers.
RESO Analytics does not provide a grading system. It is not Consumer Reports with good/medium/bad ratings. It is a platform that provides information and insights that will help the real-estate industry to ask better questions.
What percentage of the RESO data dictionary is used in current MLS systems and how much?
What fields are aligned across all MLSs a broker works in
How well can this technology system serve my company’s technology requirements?
Technology developers will be able to create new, innovative products that are competitive and scale faster across the industry by using reports on data fields (e.g. Lot Size and List Price) and pick list lookups. They will also help technology providers to improve their systems and offer greater value to their customers.
Technology System Performance
Summary of Certification
Early results speak for themselves: Providers of certified RESO API services to MLSs can see their performance statistics on RESO analytics compared to industry averages.
One Web API service increased its speed tenfold in just a few weeks. A second Web API service increased its speed by 100 times.
Current Status of RESO Analytics MLS Reports
The RESO Analytics platform began delivering reports to MLS vendors based upon certification testing in early 2022. These reports are being approved by the vendors in the RESO Analytics platform and sent to their MLS customers.
The MLS-published reports are displayed at certification.reso.org for individual analysis. RESO is also running meta-analyses of this data. The industry-wide aggregate reporting and visualizations will result in a guideline for technology providers towards data-driven decision making.
Where do the Certified Data come from?
RESO certifies only Data Dictionary-compliant information from Web API services. This is where industry alignment tools, aggregates, and visualizations are found. It is crucial that industry data insights are based on certified, standardized data sets that provide a true picture about the real estate of consumers.
There are many other MLS data sources available in the industry, including older systems like RETS that aren’t certified and are generally not standard. RESO Analytics will not report on these data sources. Data integrity is crucial to providing the best information to consumers and professionals.
All MLS Subscribers Converted into Web API
Data consumers must use certified data systems to reap the benefits from standards and new analytics insights. Nearly every MLS offers a RESO-web API-certified service. Some MLSs have not converted all their customers from legacy services to the Web API service. However, many MLSs have made great strides in this transition recently and RESO is keeping track of the progress.
Leading MLSs are moving 100% of their customers to Web API. They are closing down their RETS servers and RESO is documenting this “dinosaur” technology’s demise with our T-RETS Extinction Counterdown. Both small and large MLSs are joining the ranks.
Telescope Reports from RESO Analytics for Broader Insights
RESO Analytics promises to deliver all kinds of new insights the industry has never seen. RESO members have already requested specific reporting features in the future.
Alignment of MLS data across multiple vendors using Provider Alignment Tool
Market Alignment Tool: Alignment multiple MLS data sets in overlapping market.
Consumer Alignment Tool: Alignment multiple MLS data sets across various markets for data consumers, especially brokers.
Aggregate Service: Information about how numerous MLSs are using data elements from the Data Dictionary to gauge popularity/need.
What can RESO do for the industry to make it more efficient and transparent with RESO Analytics? Join us at RESO to help guide the next generation tools that allow consumers and professionals alike to make informed decisions about real-estate data.