Why the MLS isn’t dead, and why backers say that's good for consumers

A recent piece in Forbes suggested the multiple listing service is on its way out thanks to startups such as REX, but backers tell Inman they're not worried

A recent piece in Forbes claims MLSs are not relevant to buyers because they have other places to go for listing information and are doing more of the work that agents used to do themselves and that new technology like big data and AI is doing the work of finding buyers outside of the MLS. Is that accurate? Not if you know how real estate data gets to buyers in the first place and how real estate transactions work in the real world, MLS execs say.