House panel hears bill to require builders to report new‑home sale prices to MLS to improve appraisal equity

Delegate Kim Taylor, sponsor of House Bill 606, told the committee the bill implements a recommendation of the Maryland Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity: require developers, builders or brokers to report the final sale price of new homes to a multiple listing service or another public database within 30 days of closing.

"This bill is one of the Black Caucus housing priorities and seeks to increase transparency, market accuracy and equity," Delegate Kim Taylor said.

Supporters described routine appraisal shortfalls and racial equity consequences. Cleveland Horton, executive director of the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights, called the measure "a necessary step toward dismantling a long standing barrier to fair and equitable housing." Jacqueline Presley, former chair of the state task force and a Prince George's County resident, told the committee that reporting final sale prices into an MLS produced practical comps that led to higher appraisals in her neighborhood after her family listed its new‑construction sale price.

Proponents said public MLS reporting would address neighborhoods with few recent sales that force appraisers to rely on limited comparables, a problem the task force documented. Task force testimony cited examples where new‑home sales were not entered into MLS and therefore not used as comps.

Real‑estate industry witnesses supported the equity goal but raised objections to mandating use of Bright MLS, a for‑profit regional MLS. Lisa May of Maryland Realtors said local realtor associations are shareholders in Bright MLS and receive dividends tied to subscriptions; requiring builders to subscribe could create a private‑sector revenue impact. The Maryland Building Industry Association also opposed the bill, arguing it would force builders — who often sell directly using in‑house teams — to join a subscription service and that SDAT (the State Department of Assessments and Taxation) might be a potential alternative if its searchability were improved.

Committee members pressed witnesses on alternatives. Delegate Dave Barnes and others asked whether the state could expand SDAT functionality or build a publicly administered reporting portal. Industry witnesses said SDAT contains sales data but is not currently configured for easy geographic comparables and could incur costs to upgrade. Lisa May agreed to provide information on Bright MLS revenue distributions requested by the committee.

The hearing included questions about how often sales are not reported (witnesses said sometimes reports never appear), whether builders would face extra cost and whether requiring MLS reporting would raise confidentiality or competitive concerns. The committee also heard that some builders already report sales voluntarily in certain developments.

No final action was recorded at the hearing; the committee signaled interest in a technical fix to avoid mandating a single private platform and asked stakeholders to provide additional fiscal and technical information.