Typical agent uses a sliver of the 1,745-field MLS dataset — active search, a handful of comps for a CMA, posting their own listing
Summary
Claim. Most agents use a sliver of what the MLS exposes: search active listings for a buyer; pull a handful of comps for a CMA; post/manage their own listing. This is a fraction of the 1,745-field, multi-year, multi-resource dataset they pay board + MLS dues to access.
Source. Practitioner-consensus framing; cross-referenced with RESO Data Dictionary 2.0 — 41 resources / 1,745 fields / 3,683 lookups (ratified Oct 23 2023; effective April 15 2024). Accessed 2026-06-21.
Confidence. Industry-consensus. Not measured in a primary survey here; consistent across practitioner sources and MLS tool-vendor framings.
Caveats. "Most agents" is a generalisation; top-tier teams do go deeper. The argument is about the median use vs the available depth.
Implication / use. The Section 2 thesis. The gap is not data availability — it is data use. Pairs with TRREB monthly Market Watch — includes "Month's Inventory" (absorption) (board already publishes absorption) and ITSO Matrix — "more than 500 fields across property types, plus CMA tools, land registry data, neighbourhood insights, Authentisign, AnswerLink, and live market statistics" (the in-built tools).