And so it begins: Moody’s launches CRE portal to challenge CoStar’s dominance

REIS Network will provide data services and tools from firms including CompStak and Rockport VAL

Moody’s Analytics has launched its long-planned commercial real estate data portal, highlighting the company’s push into a space largely dominated by the CoStar Group.

The financial services giant, which is valued at $31 billion, has over the past year acquired, invested and partnered with data companies to provide a centralized portal of commercial real estate transaction tools. The Real Deal last month reported the company’s plans to build the portal, which would provide access to data from firms including Compstak and Rockport VAL.

The new portal, REIS Network, is named after the commercial real estate data company it acquired last September for $278 million. REIS was initially approached by CoStar for a sale, but after concerns for unwanted antitrust attention by the Federal Trade Commission, the discussions dissolved.

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Among the tools available on the portal are a CRE mortgage loans, property-level data, commercial lease comps and a cloud-based valuation platform. In a statement, Moody’s Analytics Accelerator executive director Keith Berry said that the portal will streamline data sources and tools for the commercial real estate industry.

“Our goal is to become a leading source for data and analytics for commercial real estate transactions,” Berry said.

The company enters a data industry that for decades has been dominated by Washington D.C.-based CoStar Group, which is valued at $14.6 billion. CoStar’s core product is providing property level data to the commercial real estate industry, which is obtained largely through cold calling brokers for information. It has also diversified its portfolio and entered the residential space with a flurry of acquisitions in recent years, the largest being Apartments.com. CoStar declined to comment on Moody’s announcement.