Such services are common around the rest of the country, butwere never adopted in Manhattan. That has made it difficult forthose hunting for an apartment, condo, co-op or townhouse to surveyall the available properties without contacting a long list ofbrokers. Pam Liebman, CEO of Corcoran Group, headed by founderBarbara Corcoran, told GlobeSt.com that, "It's really arevolutionary change for the market because for the first time everboth consumers and brokers have a one-stop shopping opportunity.Until now it's been difficult for buyers to feel confident they'regetting exposure to the whole market by working with onebroker."

Why set up an MLS now? Liebman says that, for the last couple ofyears, brokers have been operating a de facto listing service,sharing a good portion of their listings with their colleagues.That arrangement was not very efficient, however, and so it wasdecided to formalize the process.

Reaction to the MLS has been positive across the board, shesays. The firm has been contacted by "many, many" brokers, and ithas gotten in touch with others. She does not think this new way ofdoing business will have any impact on housing prices or brokerfees. Any broker is welcome to join the service, which is scheduledto debut early next year.