Cincinnati's housing market is at record highs, and now the city's legion of brokers will soon have new technology at their disposal to help navigate it.
On Tuesday, the Cincinnati MLS, which includes more 8,000 brokers in Southwest Ohio and Southeast Indiana, will adopt a new software platform developed by Perchwell, a New York City-based startup. The conversion to Perchwell's software will happen this year, according to a news release.
Launched in 2015, Perchwell offers real estate agents a full suite of tech-driven services, including data management, market research, analytics and client collaboration tools. Those participating in the Cincinnati MLS will able to access all those offerings under the new partnership.
The collaboration comes at a critical time. Cincinnati's housing market continues to break records, with prices jumping and inventory at all-time lows. February sales activity continues the trend of setting monthly sales volume records. Every month in 2021 set a record for the highest sales volume for that month. June 2021 remains the highest sales volume month on record with nearly $783 million in sales.
For Perchwell, the announcement comes months after the startup raised $15 million in a Series A round. That round, officials said at the time, was meant to boost the company's talent and expand its services outside its home market.
"We are always on the lookout for new technology products, but we rarely find a company taking a new approach to solving large, longstanding problems," Sharon Chard, COO of the Cincinnati MLS, said in a statement. "Perchwell is doing exactly that, and we are confident it is the right technology foundation for our organization going forward."
