The US real estate market relies on a robust data infrastructure for smooth operation. This blog post dives into the key data standards and formats that underpin consistency, enable property comparisons, and facilitate efficient information exchange. We'll explore prominent standards like MSCI's Global Data Standards and Real Estate Transaction Standards (RETS), along with standardized data types for properties and members. The US real estate market thrives on a common language: data standards. These formats ensure consistency, streamline property comparisons, and facilitate efficient information exchange. Let's delve into the key standards that empower informed decision-making for investors and industry professionals. MSCI Global Data Standards for Real Estate Investment (GDS) The MSCI Global Data Standards for Real Estate Investment (GDS) play a critical role in the real estate industry by providing improved comparability across markets and asset classes. The GDS addresses information exchange challenges, ensuring that real estate data is accurate, comparable, and accessible. It covers a broad range of real estate performance measurement data inputs at the vehicle, asset, and tenancy levels, supporting performance and risk analytics. The GDS defines data inputs for investment performance measurement, including returns, yields, and costs, facilitating cross-border and cross-asset class comparability. RETS (Real Estate Transaction Standard) The Real Estate Transaction Standards (RETS) provide a common language for computers to transfer real estate information, such as MLS data, to other programs or websites. RETS enhances data exchange efficiency and consistency, ensuring that real estate agents can easily host listings from multiple MLSs on their websites. Companies like Realtyna leverage RETS to provide IDX (Internet Data Exchange) services to agents and brokers nationwide. However, RETS has been replaced by the RESO Web API, which offers a more modern approach to data transport. RESO Web API The RESO Web API is a modern data transport standard in the United States real estate industry, designed to streamline the movement of property data across various platforms. It allows seamless communication between MLSs, real estate agents, and brokers. The Web API replaces older data transport methods like RETS and enables any organization to deliver or receive real estate data quickly and efficiently. By adhering to well-known, open technology standards, the RESO Web API promotes greater efficiency, cost savings, enhanced user experience, and competition in the real estate industry. XML and JSON Formats in Real Estate In the realm of real estate, both XML (eXtensible Markup Language) and JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) serve as data interchange formats. JSON utilizes key-value pairs for data representation and is lightweight and concise, making it ideal for developers. On the other hand, XML uses tags and attributes to define elements and properties, making it more verbose but also more versatile in certain situations. JSON is generally more readable, performs better, and is natively supported by JavaScript, while XML provides greater support for metadata and can be more versatile in specific situations. In summary, the data standards and formats in the US real estate market are vital for consistency, comparability, and efficient information exchange. Standards like MSCI GDS and RETS, along with property and member data types, ensure accurate and accessible information. The shift to RESO Web API reflects industry's tech adoption for enhanced data exchange. XML and JSON formats offer diverse benefits in real estate data interchange.