The Relative Performance of Real Estate Marketing Platforms: MLS versus FSBOMadison.com

Igal Hendel, Aviv Nevo and Francois Ortalo-Magne

American Economic Review, 2009, vol. 99, issue 5, 1878-98

Abstract: We compare house sales on a For-Sale-By-Owner (FSBO) platform to Multiple Listing Service (MLS) sales and find that FSBO precommission prices are no lower, but that FSBO is less effective in terms of time to sell and probability of a sale. We do not find direct evidence of the importance of network size as a reason for the lower effectiveness of FSBO. We do find evidence of endogenous platform differentiation: patient sellers use FSBO while patient buyers transact more often on the MLS (where they avoid patient sellers). We discuss the implications for platform competition, two-sided markets, and welfare. (JEL L85, M31, R31)

JEL-codes: L85 M31 R31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.99.5.1878
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (78)

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Related works:
Working Paper: The Relative Performance of Real Estate Marketing Platforms: MLS versus FSBOMadison.com (2007)
Working Paper: The Relative Performance of Real Estate Marketing Platforms: MLS versus FSBOMadison.com (2007)
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