For release:
Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009

CALMLS, the statewide MLS for California, names Concentric as its technology partner, secures $3 million line of credit, and debuts new brand

LOS ANGELES (Jan. 25) – The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) today announced that CALMLS, the statewide Multiple Listing Service (MLS) initiative, has selected Rocklin, Calif.-based Concentric as its technology partner in California. Concentric was selected following an extensive vetting process that included input from REALTORS® and other stakeholders statewide. Platform-and browser-neutral, Concentric’s Web-based system performs substantially faster than any product on the market.

“By selecting Concentric as our technology partner, we are taking the first step toward a more current and flexible system, designed with a real estate agent’s needs in mind,” said Mike Silvas, CALMLS chairman and co-owner of Morgan Lane Real Estate, a luxury market brokerage based in Napa, Calif. “We have had a tremendous response from brokers and agents who see how it will improve their efficiency and effectiveness as real estate professionals.

“CALMLS intends to incorporate many different technologies to allow choice as well as myriad new applications for the licensees accessing the system, including creating the foundation for a property-centric database that will allow members easy access to relevant data on all properties in California,” he said. “Concentric’s next generation product is a notable and clearly visible leap forward from current MLS software and is built on a platform that can adapt to ever-changing technology needs.”

CALMLS also debuted new branding for the products and services offered by the statewide MLS entity. These now will be branded as calREDD™, an acronym for California Real Estate Dynamic Data. The new calREDD™ branding reflects the long-term vision of creating one database for all California real property, with advanced technology that goes beyond current MLS systems and incorporates a database rich with detail about every single property in the state.

CALMLS also announced it has secured a line of credit for partnership activities, ongoing operations, and future development. Sixty-six local REALTOR® associations and three regional MLSs representing more than 120,000 members across the state already have signed letters of intent to participate in CALMLS. At the C.A.R. board of directors meetings this past week in Monterey, Calif., Concentric conducted standing-room only demonstrations, with local REALTOR® associations vying for priority to have the system for their respective MLSs. CALMLS will allow brokers and agents to access the statewide data through any participating AOR or MLS. Associations and MLSs may be part of the system by using the new vendor as their primary software or by continuing to operate under their current systems and providing data feeds to the statewide database.

“This initiative will fundamentally improve the most critical service for California REALTORS®,” Silvas said. “Thanks to the hard work and visionary leadership of California REALTORS®, CALMLS is poised to provide real estate professionals with next generation technology in the MLS arena, as well as the ancillary benefits of optimized pricing and product flexibility,” he said. “The historic actions taken this past week mark a sea change for the real estate industry in California.”

Leading the way...® in California real estate for more than 100 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (www.car.org) is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States, with nearly 180,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles.