It was reported today in Overseas Property Professionals that a group consisting of Immobel, NAR, FECEPAC and others are collaborating on a project to create an international MLS system for Central America.

LANDMARK DEAL CREATES INTERNATIONAL MLS

FECEPAC, Immobel, NAR, FNAIM, Central America, Caribbean, MLS, portals, Google, Enormo, ICREA, Worldproperties, 

A landmark agreement is to create an international multiple listing system (MLS) for Central America, bringing the concept of a genuinely global listings exchange a step closer.

Through a deal with real estate technology provider Immobel, the Central American and Caribbean real estate association, FECEPAC will make its members property listings available online through consumer portals and allow foreign agents to display them on their websites.

Immobel, which already offers a listings exchange service between real estate associations NAR in the US and FNAIM in France, will translate FECEPACs listings into 12 other languages and provide the functions of a brokers MLS.

The listings will also be uploaded to Google Real Estate and international portals including ICREAs soon to be relaunched WorldProperties.com and Enormo.com.

“FECEPAC didnt have anything like an MLS, so weve stepped in to help them market internationally,” Immobel CEO Janet Choynowski told OPP. “There are very few centralised MLSs and there are a number of Asian and Latin American countries in particular who need one.”

New challenge

Immobel had previously declined requests to create national MLSs because it wasnt part of the companys core business, she added. “But the technology really fits the bill and now we may go ahead and say yes to other markets who need this.

“The cost of creating an MLS, translating the listings and creating multiple data feeds to send listings to different portals would be a real burden to individual countries. But we already have the ability to input listings in 13 languages, which covers 90% of internet traffic. This could open a lot of doors in a lot of countries.”

FECEPAC includes members from Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. The listings are being counted as they are uploaded but Choynowski said the associations market was similar in size to that of somewhere like Las Vegas. “We could expect to see around 30,000-40,000 listings,” she said.

The announcement follows last months news that the Miami Realtor association RAMB was partnering with FECEPAC and Immobel to market Florida property to Central American buyers.