The Truth About Pocket Listings

With today’s housing inventory at an all-time low, an active and available listing has become quite the rare commodity, especially in South Florida and the Treasure Coast.

With so many buyers struggling to find their perfect American Dream, it is more important now than ever to address the long-standing issue of pocket listings in the real estate industry. 

A pocket listing, sometimes referred to as an Off-MLS listing, is a property that is not advertised publicly for sale in the MLS. Instead, it is marketed privately for sale by listing brokers, or their agents, to a limited network of consumers. Fundamentally, pocket listings conflict with the MLS and its intended purpose; there is concern that they do not provide maximum exposure of the property and are therefore not in the seller’s or consumer’s best interest. The MLS has long been respected as a broad marketplace that promotes healthy competition, through the inclusion of all Realtors® and all consumers. 

To address the issue, the National Association of Realtors® has created Policy Statement 8.0, which requires listing brokers who purchase MLS services to submit their listing to the MLS within one business day of marketing the property to the public. The national group announced that “leaving listings outside of the MLS excludes consumers, undermining Realtors®’ commitment to providing equal opportunity to all.”

In response to the new policy, local Realtor® association Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors® and BeachesMLS created an alternative approach to pocket listings that helped benefit all Realtors® and consumers. BeachesMLS launched a new MLS status called Coming Soon as a way for Realtors® to pre-market listings on the MLS while staying compliant with the National Association of Realtors®.

Under the new guidelines, a listing can remain in Coming Soon status for up to 21 days before it automatically changes to Active status on the 21st day or on the Go-Active date set by the Realtor®. Coming Soon listings do not automatically syndicate to Realtor.com, Homes.com, etc. however, as always, listing brokers have the ability to opt their listings into syndication.

With the Coming Soon status in place, BeachesMLS saw a significant decrease in reported pocket listings. Simultaneously, BeachesMLS data from 2021 shows the number of listings marked as Coming Soon climbed to 17,599, which is 137 percent higher compared to 2020 figures. The status also proved to be advantageous to local Realtors®. In 2021, median time to contract dropped to eight days while median time to closing dropped to 50 days. This is in comparison to the typical Active status that produced 11 days and 54 days, respectively during the same timeframe. These measurable benefits have brought quick popularity to the Coming Soon status. Indeed, it provides greater listing exposure with far-reaching benefits for pre-marketing. And, Realtors® stay compliant with national standards because the MLS is inclusive of all Realtors® and all consumers.

With BeachesMLS’s implementation of the Coming Soon status, in conjunction with Policy Statement 8.0, property owners are receiving maximum exposure of their properties, and consumers have access to all available properties. The goal of the National Association of Realtors® and BeachesMLS is to ensure consumers have equal housing opportunities, and Realtors® have all needed tools and resources to support the American Dream of Homeownership. That is the goal, that is the future.