Data on new listings or price changes are available in the full Realtor MLS systems within moments after the listing agent enters the information into the system. It takes about 24 hours for this data to upload to public systems.

Because new data is typically uploaded to the public systems only once daily (usually at night), the information on the public MLS systems is usually delayed by about 24 hours. In most cases, a 24 delay will not harm buyers who are relying on the public MLS sites in their home search. It should be noted, however, that in some of our local markets 10-20 percent of the best homes are going under contract within 5 days of listing in the MLS system, and many of those are going under contract within 24-48 hours. Under these circumstances, buyers working closing with a real estate agent will have already seen some of the best new properties and submitted offers before buyers using the public system can know they’ve hit the market.