The year 2022 marks the 5th anniversary of the Broward, Palm Beaches, and St. Lucie Realtors® ‘mega merger’, when the Realtors® Association of the Palm Beaches and Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors® merged in 2017. Upon announcement as the largest merger in the history of the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), all industry eyes were on the newly unified group, especially during the consolidation of their massive MLSs.
The unification created a rare opportunity for Realtors® in Broward, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie counties to tout their affiliation with one of the largest MLSs in the nation. The evolution of what is known as BeachesMLS today created both a single source for homebuyers and greater exposure for sellers throughout southeast Florida.
“It was no small feat merging 40,000 on-market listings, totaling over $21 billion in inventory, but we knew that MLS consolidation was essential to delivering seamless technology to our brokers and agents,” said Dionna Hall, CEO of Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors® and BeachesMLS.
In 2019, the merged association went on to further consolidate the southeast Florida market by merging with the South Broward Board of Realtors®. The additional merger resulted in the association having complete NAR jurisdiction in Broward County, as well as the majority of listings in Broward, Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties.
Today their membership represents 40,000 Realtors® and over 41,000 BeachesMLS subscribers. As advocates of MLS consolidation, the mergers have created a new, much larger territory for expansion and growth without the need to join multiple MLSs.
With MLS consolidation in place, what’s on the horizon?
“The MLS landscape is changing at a record pace. New influences, both inside and outside of the industry, are increasingly moving into the MLS space, and unparalleled venture capital is entering the market. BeachesMLS will need to establish strategic relationships with a variety of groups and individuals to secure the future of our organization,” said Carlos A. Melendez, President of Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors® and BeachesMLS.
BeachesMLS has already partnered with some big names in the industry, including FBS, Corelogic, Supra, IMAPP, Lone Wolf, Remine Pro, Realtor.com, and most recently, MLS Aligned.
BeachesMLS became an equity owner of MLS Aligned which consists of six forward-thinking multiple listing service organizations across seven states. MLS Aligned represents approximately 150,000 Realtors® and is constantly developing innovative partnerships and products to better serve their subscribers and consumers. Their API driven data distribution tool distributes large amounts of accurate and cutting-edge data to BeachesMLS subscribers.
The merger has also blazed a trail for improved collaboration and record-breaking participation with the Realtors® Political Action Committee (RPAC). Advocating efforts expanded across the local, state and national levels. In 2021, Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors® raised $950,000, an amount that would not have been achievable without the mergers. Going into 2022, they are hoping to reach a new high for RPAC fundraising, as the yearly fundraising goal is set for $1 million.
In hindsight, does consolidation work?
MLS consolidation has been a hot topic in the industry for many years, and the consensus is still split. MLSs that are reluctant to change maintain that independence is key. In this story, however, MLS consolidation has proven to benefit subscribers at large in Broward, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie counties. Five years after consolidation, Broward, Palm Beaches, and St. Lucie Realtors® have grown 64 percent in membership to become the Association of Attraction in southeast Florida. They attribute their growth largely in part to the efficiency and data accuracy of BeachesMLS along with the association’s ability to maintain unsurpassed customer service during and after the mergers.
The Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors® redefined their experience for members and subscribers. As the real estate industry constantly evolves, they have undoubtedly created a path for more Associations and MLSs to follow suit in the future.
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