Multiple Listing Services

Multiple listing services remain the technical and operational backbone of the residential real estate market, maintaining buyer and seller matching and a centralized databases that enable a comprehensive local marketplace. In 2025, the number of MLSs operating in the US contracted, sliding below 500 for the first time — to 481 as of Dec. 31 — as consolidation and regionalization accelerated. 

MLSs are typically owned or governed by local Realtor associations and sit inside the long-standing three-way governance model of local, state and national Realtor associations. That alignment shapes governance, data access and market rules, but the framework began to fray in 2025 as federal legal and regulatory scrutiny prompted NAR and local MLSs to rethink long-standing practices and relationships. 

Among smaller locals and standalone MLSs, mergers and consolidations rose alongside rising legal scrutiny and costs, prompting a shift toward decentralized governance and more cautious public reporting. MLSs remain central to market functionality, but the 2025 changes mark the start of a more fragmented, locally driven MLS landscape that will continue to shape governance, data stewardship and how brokers and consumers experience the marketplace.