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08/30/2005: "RE/MAX plans to post all U.S. listings online"

DENVER - Beginning next year, RE/MAX International will post on its Web site the listings of all U.S. homes for sale - including those of its competitors.
The radical move by the Colorado real-estate giant could lead to lower real-estate commissions nationally, experts said.

"This is pro-consumer," said Steve Murray, editor of the Littleton, Colo., trade publication Real Trends. "It will allow for greater competition ... in the industry, and that may well lead to lower prices for consumers."

Online listings are a hot issue in the broker community. For two years, federal antitrust officials have scrutinized efforts by the National Association of Realtors to limit access to online listings by Internet start-ups. Greenwood Village-based RE/MAX is a member of the trade group.

RE/MAX's announcement Thursday appears aimed at bypassing the regulators. The company's biggest competitor, Cendant Corp., may follow suit, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing industry sources.

"RE/MAX and others have determined that NAR is not going to prevail, therefore listing information is going to become increasingly universal," Murray said.

The trade group - along with local boards of Realtors, who control listings - had sought to limit access to listings after Internet brokerages began reposting them on their Web sites. Some Internet brokers irked traditional brokerages by charging referral fees for sending buyers to other agents and rebating a portion of the commission back to the buyer.

RE/MAX will maintain its relationship with Realtor.com, a RE/MAX spokesman said. The company plans to launch the new online listings by late February.


Source - The Denver Post