NORCAL MLS® Alliance

Seven leading MLSs in Northern California created the NORCAL MLS® Alliance to ensure real estate professionals have the greatest access to MLS data in and near the areas they do business.

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Watch The Video To Learn More About The NORCAL MLS® Alliance!

Thousand

MLS data accessible to over 57,000 real estate professionals.

Million

Serving a population of more than 11.9 million people.

Counties

Covering more than 32,500 square miles and 26 counties.

26 Northern California Counties

The NORCAL MLS® Alliance covers the following counties: Alameda, Amador, Butte, Colusa, Contra Costa, Marin, El Dorado, Mendocino, Merced, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba.

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NORCAL MLS® Alliance Benefits

Listing Data

Access to more listing data across multiple MLSs without having to have multiple MLS Memberships.

10 Years Plus

More than 10 years of successful data sharing and cooperation amongst 7 MLSs.

Local MLS Goverance

Maintain local governance of your MLS which means support from your local experts with knowledge of your unique marketplace.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the NORCAL MLS® Alliance?

The NORCAL MLS® Alliance is a groundbreaking MLS Data integration project involving the 7 leading MLSs in Northern California. It is designed to expand on the existing MLS Reciprocal Access which enables MLS users to sign into all collaborating MLS systems, once the user has signed into the user’s home MLS system. Once launched in late summer, MLS users will be able to access the data from multiple MLSs within their home MLS system. Creating the NORCAL MLS Alliance, the 7 MLSs will be giving real estate professionals and their clients the most comprehensive access to listing data in Northern California.

Which MLSs make up the NORCAL MLS® Alliance and what markets do they cover?

San Francisco Association of REALTORS® serving San Francisco County

BAREIS MLS serving Marin, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, and Solano Counties

Bay East Association serving the East Bay Area

bridgeMLS serving the East Bay Area

Contra Costa Association serving the East Bay Area

MLSListings serving San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito Counties

MetroList serving Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, Yolo, Nevada, Amador, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Butte, Yuba, Sutter, Colusa and Merced Counties

Is the NORCAL MLS® Alliance different from the Statewide MLS project that the California Association of Realtors® (C.A.R.) has been supporting?

How does the NORCAL MLS® Alliance work?

There are three different MLS systems that serve the seven MLSs in the NORCAL MLS® Alliance: Rapattoni, Paragon (Black Knight) and Matrix (CoreLogic). Each MLS has thousands of agents using their system. We have set the Alliance up so that each of the three systems has access to all of the data in their data base. Agents can access this new, larger set of data without changing to a different and unfamiliar system.

When was the NORCAL MLS® Alliance implemented?

What are the advantages to me as the Broker and to my agents?

We’ve heard for years from our Brokers that they wanted all their data in their familiar home MLS system. This Alliance is a major step toward eliminating multiple places to go for data and providing our Brokers and Agents with a single place to get it. You would know better than we do about how you can benefit from this, but we have listed a few that we think are critically important. Click here to view the comprehensive list of benefits in the "Talking Points" document.

a. This will be the ONLY place where you can get all the listings and historical data in 26 Northern California counties while continuing to utilize the MLS technology of your home system. This allows you to concentrate on your business, without having to learn a new system for expanded data access.

b. Reduce the number of data feeds (including IDX) that you need to receive to run your business saving you both time and money.

c. Reduced costs and programming for your vendors who receive data today from multiple sources to serve your business needs. In addition, receiving a single data feed will eliminate issues related to duplicate listings and inaccurate data reporting.

d. Eliminates the need for dual entry of listings into Multiple Systems saving time and money.

Will this be disruptive to my agents?

We’ve set up the ALLIANCE to avoid disruption to your agents. For MLSListings and the three East Bay MLSs (bridgeMLS, CCAR and Bay East) the agents will continue to use exactly the same system they are accustomed to, but with substantially more listing data from a much larger geography.

For the three MLSs that utilize Rapattoni technology (SFAR, BAREIS, and MetroList), their users will see a new upgraded system, with MLS data instantly synchronized between their three systems. These MLSs will also have listing data included within their available systems from the other MLS Alliance partners.

Why don’t you just merge and have one MLS in Northern California?

There has been talk about having one MLS but having one MLS prevents the opportunity to keep you in control with local governance with local experts providing local service in the local markets. What we’ve heard from our Brokers is that the critical thing is to have one place to get all the data. What we’ve accomplished with our Alliance is to have the data in one place while maintaining an MLS that is responsive to its members and reflective of the business practices of your marketplace, and to continue to be able to serve the local needs of our Brokers and Agents. Real Estate Sales and Marketing customs and practices are still hyper local.

Will all areas use the same lockbox? Will our agents need to obtain lock box access each time they go to show properties? Will the lockbox rules be the same?

There are no changes to the way the lockbox and key system work today. Agents can still use the Supra system and obtain their lockboxes and keys in the same manner they currently utilize (either through the MLSs or the associations that issue keys). Likewise, there is no change to the MLS Rules regarding the use of the lockboxes and keys. The Rules of the entity which issues the key and key code access will prevail.

The map below indicates the Supra Key coverage areas with each color signifying a different key code is required.

Will all the different areas have the same set of rules?

Where should I go to get more detailed information on how the NORCAL MLS® ALLIANCE will impact me as a Broker and my agents? Where should my technical staff and vendors go to get answers to how they are impacted?

You can come to your local MLS as you always do for answers to your questions. The primary contact for each NORCAL MLS® AllIANCE participant is shown below: