For years, new construction has been an awkward fit within multiple listing services (MLS), according to Bill Gaul, CEO of Builders Update and chair of the RESO Data Dictionary New Construction Subcommittee. MLS data infrastructure was designed around resale transactions and was not built to reflect 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 mismatch creates concrete problems. Agents often show buyers a listing found in the MLS, only to arrive at a development and discover multiple nearly identical models. The listing represents a single unit, but the reality is a sales operation with its own pricing strategy, customization options, and construction timeline. Agents not specialized in new construction can find this environment confusing, and buyers end up frustrated.
Gaul spent about a year working through RESO's subcommittee process to address basic terminology: 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 less-discussed reason new construction is underrepresented in MLS data 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, which can complicate pricing across a development with similar units. Gaul compares it to a car dealership: if buyers see what the last customer paid, every subsequent negotiation starts from that number. Builders manage pricing by keeping each transaction confidential. "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 result is that MLS systems underrepresent new construction inventory, not because builders are unaware of the MLS, but because full participation can work against their pricing strategy. Agents searching for new construction find an incomplete picture, buyers miss available inventory, and builders who partially participate end up with listings that don't fully reflect what they're selling.
The data-standards problem is compounded by limited agent training specific to new construction. Licensing programs teach agents how to handle resale transactions, not the skills needed to represent a buyer at a new construction development: understanding construction timelines, interpreting floor plans, navigating builder contracts, and sequencing visits. "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, 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 can be outdated. "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 available in nine languages and nine currencies. Gaul's recent ambassadorship with the GDX global MLS network aims to extend that reach, connecting U.S. new construction inventory with buyers in Latin America, Europe, and beyond. The RESO data dictionary changes have moved from subcommittee to a broader vote, where organizations less focused on new construction may be cautious. As builders represent a growing share of available inventory, buyers searching through MLS-based tools will continue to see an incomplete picture until those standards catch up.
