New Construction Data Gaps Persist in MLS Systems, RESO Subcommittee Chair Highlights Industry Challenges

New construction remains underrepresented in Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data, creating persistent challenges for builders, agents, and buyers. Bill Gaul, CEO of Builders Update and chair of the RESO Data Dictionary New Construction Subcommittee, says the mismatch stems from MLS systems originally designed for resale transactions, not for how builders manage and sell inventory. "It's been a round peg trying to fit into a square hole in the MLS," Gaul says.

The consequences are concrete. Agents routinely show buyers a listing found in the MLS, only to arrive at a development and discover multiple nearly identical models. The listing represented a single unit, but the reality is a sales operation with its own pricing strategy, customization options, and construction timeline. Agents who haven't specialized in new construction find that environment harder to navigate, and buyers end up confused.

Gaul spent roughly a year working through RESO's subcommittee process to address basic terminology problems: terms like "under construction," "to be built," and "quick move-in" were used inconsistently across systems or not recognized at all. "It took me about a year of developing consensus among the group," Gaul says. "We finally got it to where it's usable for builders."

One reason new construction is underrepresented is that builders often have good business reasons to list selectively. When a builder lists a home in the MLS, they are typically required to report the sale price once it closes, and that disclosure can complicate pricing across a development with multiple similar units. Gaul compares it to a car dealership: if buyers could see exactly what the last customer paid for the same vehicle, every subsequent negotiation would start from that number. Builders manage pricing similarly, keeping each transaction confidential so the next buyer starts from the asking price. "Builders will only put their model home in, maybe a couple of other models," Gaul says. "They're not going to put everything in."

The data-standards problem is compounded by limited agent training specific to new construction. Licensing programs teach agents how to handle resale transactions, but the skills required to represent a buyer at a new construction development—understanding construction timelines, interpreting floor plans, navigating builder contracts—are not typically part of standard training. "They don't teach agents how to sell new construction," Gaul says. "They teach how to resell, but not new construction."

Gaul's company, Builders Update, has developed a training program for agents selling new construction, structured as a self-paced course with six modules. The platform takes inventory data directly from builders rather than through third-party aggregators, time-stamps every listing, and performs quality-control checks before publishing. Gaul describes catching errors including listings priced at $1,500 instead of $1.5 million and GPS coordinates placing properties far offshore. Because construction status and pricing can change within weeks, data that passes through multiple intermediaries before reaching a consumer portal can be out of date. "We want to become the pure source for new construction data," Gaul says.

The platform currently serves approximately 858,000 agents nationwide and is expanding internationally, with the site now available in nine languages and nine currencies. Gaul's recent ambassadorship with the GDX global MLS network is intended to extend that reach, connecting U.S. new construction inventory with buyers in Latin America, Europe, and beyond. Builders Update operates alongside MLS systems and third-party portals rather than replacing them.

The RESO data dictionary changes Gaul has pushed have moved from the subcommittee to a broader vote, where organizations less focused on new construction may be more cautious about change. As builders represent a growing share of available inventory in many markets, buyers searching through MLS-based tools will continue to see an incomplete picture of what is actually for sale until those standards catch up.