We are pleased to share the 2024 NorthstarMLS Subscriber Report prepared by T3 Sixty, commissioned by NorthstarMLS and the board of directors. This comprehensive analysis reaffirms our dedication to the core values that define NorthstarMLS: Reliable Information, Fearless Technology and a Broker-centric Approach underscored by a commitment to transparency.

Recognizing NorthstarMLS’s pivotal role in the Upper Midwest real estate landscape, this report emphasizes our organization’s commitment to equipping real estate professionals with the knowledge and insights into how NorthstarMLS operates.

This report provides key statistics, unique insights into MLS policy and the impact it has on the Minnesota market, and the significant trends shaping Minnesota real estate and the larger industry in 2024. NorthstarMLS serves as the backbone of our region’s real estate ecosystem, fostering an environment where reliable information, cutting-edge technology and a broker-centric ethos converge.

Beyond being an MLS, NorthstarMLS is shaping the future of real estate in the Upper Midwest. This report offers a deeper understanding of the strategic vision, technology perspective and commitment to subscriber communication and learning. We believe it will help NorthstarMLS continue to be the partner you rely upon to drive success in your business now and in the future.

As you explore the report, remember that NorthstarMLS is led by a dedicated leadership team committed to success. As your peers, we take pride in volunteering on the board of directors leading NorthstarMLS toward a future defined by excellence and innovation. We walk in your shoes. We understand the challenges of the market and the uncertainty of the legal landscape, and we maintain confidence that the MLS will remain a key component in the broker and agent real estate business for years to come.

After becoming NorthstarMLS CEO in September 2022, my introduction to our MLS, our subscribers and the Upper Midwest real estate marketplace was quickly overshadowed by litigation and the changes it brings to the industry. I’ve spent many frustrating hours reading about lawsuits, being briefed by attorneys and pondering the impacts.

While these proceedings have prevented me from focusing exclusively on how to best serve you, they have also caused me to reflect more deeply on the important role the MLS plays in your business as brokers, agents, appraisers and related real estate professionals. You are the reason the MLS exists. You make it work. You actively contribute to NorthstarMLS as a collective resource for everyone who relies on brokerage data, MLS data services and consumer interaction to power the industry.

These thoughts have been a touchstone of reliability and comfort that keeps me and the NorthstarMLS team looking past the current turmoil to the future with unwavering commitment to you.

Despite these uncertain times, we at NorthstarMLS have done our level best to ensure we remain a mainstay when you need us most. We want to be transparent about how we are doing that, sharing our perspective and the actions we are taking in the 2024 NorthstarMLS Subscriber Report.

This document merges an inward-looking report on our operations with external analysis of the changing local and national industry environments in which we operate. This combined view of NorthstarMLS illustrates our approach to thinking about you and your needs. It also illuminates the value we provide to each other, your customers and clients, and the communities where we live and work.

I appreciate what you do for a living, and I will do everything in my power to help ensure you have the opportunity to do it in the future, regardless of what changes may come. We will make some hard choices. We will learn new skills. We will do all these things together and emerge stronger and better for having done them.

NorthstarMLS has earned a reputation as one of the nation’s most innovative MLSs. Forward-looking leadership has helped the organization achieve this; it has also helped the organization grow from the dominant MLS in the Minneapolis region to the dominant MLS in the state of Minnesota, a pioneer in MLS collaborations with its Common Data Platform data-share initiative that continues to fuel growth and a visionary that built and owns key technology it relies on.

The MLS has found success by leaning into a value-first mindset. With good communications, solid in-house technology that provides stable costs and control, and a collaborative approach, the MLS has become the US’s18th largest MLS with more than 22,000 subscribers and the largest MLS in the Upper Midwest.

This report reflects some of the underlying reasons for the MLS’s success: a commitment to providing value and transparency to subscribers with a collaborative approach. MLSs, as T3 Sixty has written in the Swanepoel Trends Report, are charting their next era as we write this, and NorthstarMLS is among the vanguard leading the way. This report exemplifies how and why.