The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Real Estate Association (BREA) yesterday said it was “over the moon” with the latest global expansion for its Multiple Listing Service (MLS), adding that this would increase the latter’s current 5-10 per cent membership growth rate.

Franon Wilson, BREA’s president, told Tribune Business that the link-up between the MLS service and the International Consortium of Real Estate Associations (ICREA), plus the Canadian Real Estate Association’s website, would expose its existing 1,500 Bahamian properties to an even greater buyer/agent audience.

Disclosing that the tie-ups “couldn’t have come at a better time” for BREA and its members, Mr Wilson said they were a natural progression from the Association’s decision to join the US National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Pointing to ICREA’s website, worldproperties.com, which enjoyed millions of ‘hits’, Mr Wilson said: “Our MLS feed is now on that website; listings on the MLS are now mirrored on that.”

And it was the same arrangement with realtor.ca, the Canadian association’s website, with the MLS’s 1,500 listings also “mirrored” there.

“That’s a website that really focuses on the international, and translates listings into 19 different languages,” Mr Wilson told Tribune Business of the ICREA site, noting that one of those was Mandarin.

“It couldn’t have come at a better time for BREA, given that Baha Mar is travelling around the world, raising awareness of the Bahamas,” the BREA added.

Baha Mar, with China State Construction and the China Export-Import Bank as its equity/construction and financing partners, will be heavily targeting the Asian market for real estate buyers and visitors.

This makes the timing of BREA’s affiliation with a website that can translate Bahamian real estate listings into Mandarin all the more opportune.

Geno Maycock, the Colonial Realty broker who heads BREA’s MLS committee, told Tribune Business that it currently carried more than 1,500 Bahamian property listings and was continuing to grow monthly.

He added that around one-third of BREA’s members were currently using the MLS, a number that was”growing”. And Mr Maycock said he expected this growth rate to increase, given the value added to the service by the ICREA and Canadian link-ups.

“Without a doubt there will be increased growth, even more than there is now,” Mr Maycock told Tribune Business. “I’d say, probably within the last year, we’ve seen 5-10 per cent growth.”

He added that the MLS system was now exposing Bahamian property listings “to the entire world”, and “levelling the playing field” by giving all realtors - big and small - the opportunity to reach a global audience.

“Before, to expose your property to the market, it required someone to take out an advert in a luxury magazine, costing $2,000-$3,000 a run,” Mr Maycock said.

“Now, the MLS gives you the same and a whole lot more for a whole lot less - the price of MLS membership. It transforms the way we do business and the market where the property is exposed. We’re live and ready to go.”

The MLS system’s increasing international links were exposing the Bahamas to a wide international network of brokers and agents, and Mr Maycock said its property listings could be seen in the US, Canada, Europe and Latin America.

“I don’t think anyone could ask for more than that,” Mr Wilson added. “The associations in these territories will see the Bahamas has a structured organisation in place.

“The Board is over the moon about this. This is huge. This is one of the most significant events in the history of BREA. It brings so much value to the members who are members of the MLS. It’s more than exposure. It creates opportunity for our members.”