‘No-comingling’ rule change potentially positive for CoStar, says JPMorgan

JPMorgan notes that the National Association of Realtors may vote as soon as today to change its “no-comingling” policy after the NAR’s Multiple Listings Issues and Policies Committee yesterday voted to rescind the policy at the Realtors Legislative Meetings annual conference. The executive committee is expected to vote today, and if approved, the ruling will become final, notes the analyst, who explains that such a change could potentially be long-term beneficial for Homes.com, which “could hypothetically be used as an MLS equivalent.” While it is “hard to speculate at this point on potential outcomes,” the firm thinks the possible change could alter the U.S. industry set-up and move it more towards an international listings model. JPMorgan has an Overweight rating on Homes.com’s parent CoStar Group (CSGP).