Midyear Commercial Wrap-up: Data Integration Top of Minds

RPR Commercial staff were all hands on deck at this year's NAR Legislative Meetings and Trade Expo. Booth traffic was steady with members taking time to engage with staff, particularly over RPR's Trade Area Reports and Valuate (the platform's investment analysis tool). On-market commercial listings have increased to nearly 360,000––a 20 percent increase since Q1 2018, which prompted other value-added conversations among booth visitors.

Others were impressed by RPR's recent announcement regarding an Esri refresh. Now, more than 1 billion Esri data points are available through the platform. That, plus access to 35 million off-market properties, earned positive feedback from practitioners. Beth Cristina, Commercial Committee Chair, was pleased to see leadership from NAR's Institute Affiliate organizations step up to the mic to praise RPR and NAR for supporting their businesses and reiterate the value of data available through this REALTOR® benefit.

Leaders from across the nation discussed NAR's search for a vendor who could provide REALTORS® with a public facing listing platform. Proposals are currently being reviewed by NAR from several companies. Much of the conversation centered around the need for selected vendor(s) to work in partnership with RPR Commercial by sharing listing data and deep linking between sites. Other topics discussed included affordability and a need for speed to market, particularly to suit the needs of associations.

Cynthia Shelton, CCIM, CRE, Chair of the Future of Commercial Data PAG, shared with the Commercial Committee that a survey of Commercial membership was conducted by NAR in January that confirmed imperative data needed for their businesses. RPR Commercial supports mentioned workflow needs already through demographics, aerials, trade maps, financial analysis, county zoning, flood maps and the ability to conduct property searches through licensed partnerships with CIEs, MLSs and national broker brand feeds. The missing piece to delivering the ultimate commercial member value would be an integration with a public listing platform, so we're diligently working to find the right solution to complement what we currently receive from RPR Commercial, echoed Shelton.

To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.