Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misstated the number of multiple listing services participating in the Zillow Partnership Platform. Zillow is not disclosing the number of participants.
Zillow will get listings directly from the 1,000-member Corpus Christi Association of Realtors, which has signed on to become the latest member of the Zillow Partnership Platform.
The Texas-based Realtor association joins the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR), Connecticut Multiple Listing Service (CTMLS), and Shrewsbury, Mass.-based MLS Property Information Network Inc. (MLSPIN) as members of the Zillow Partnership Platform. Like HAR, the Corpus Christi Association of Realtors operates the local MLS.
A Zillow spokeswoman said other MLSs are participating, but declined to disclose how many.
The Zillow Partnership Platform, announced last May, provides brokers and agents who belong to participating associations and MLSs with enhanced branding and other perks in exchange for direct listing feeds.
"We are very concerned about accuracy and freshness of our listings as they are displayed on public websites," said Josh Ellington, director of MLS and technology at the Corpus Christi Association of Realtors in a statement. "We applaud Zillow’s efforts to increase accuracy by refreshing their database as often as every 15 minutes using the direct data feed from the Corpus Christi Association of Realtors."
"The Zillow Partnership Platform strives to eliminate the confusion associated with stale data, lagging price changes and incorrect statuses," said Bob Bemis, Zillow vice president of partner relations.
Listings fed to the Zillow program show up on the Zillow Real Estate Network, which includes Yahoo Homes, Google Now, and soon, HGTV’s FrontDoor.com
Unlike Realtor.com — which thanks to its ties to the National Association of Realtors gets listings directly from most of the nation’s MLSs — third-party portals get listing data from a variety of sources, including MLSs, brokers, agents and listing syndicators like ListHub and Point2.
Zillow rival Trulia launched a program in 2011, in which MLS data takes precedence over other sources when discrepancies are found. Large MLSs providing Trulia with direct feeds include the HAR, MLSPIN, CTMLS, Midwest Real Estate Data LLC (MRED), and Bay Area Real Estate Information Services Inc. (BAREIS) in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Trulia and Zillow launched programs last year that provide perks to brokerages providing direct feeds.
This week Zillow announced that Hunt Real Estate ERA is sending listings the firm represents in New York and Arizona directly to Zillow, bringing the number of firms participating in the "Zillow Pro for Brokers" program to 49.