There are several existing real estate-based data standards.  These initiatives serve various segments of the industry, but are led primarily by the finance and investment sectors. 

These efforts provide a valuable reference, and even serve as a starting point, for NMHC's data standards effort.  The organizations and web sites below offer a wide range of information about standards and the standards setting process.

Data Consortium
Founded in 1993, the Data Consortium serves as a key clearinghouse and resourse on data and XML standards for the real estate industry. It was created by the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF), the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA), and the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers (NAREIM) for the purpose of establishing a set of real estate information standards for the institutional real estate investment industry. The goal of such standards is to enable the exchange of commercial real estate-related information between owners, vendors, consumers and associations.

Multifamily Data Exchange
The Multi-Family Data Exchange (MFDX) is the Open Data Standard (ODS) developed for the benefit of the apartment industry to facilitate the exchange of apartment data through XML. This standard has been developed to assist in the universal delivery and receipt of data to multiple platforms.  Organizations such as Realty Data Trust, AMSI, Equity Residential, Apartments.com, ApartmentGuide.com and the Data Consortium have been crucial in the development of this standard by providing architecture, data and feedback about the ODS. The current work posted on this web site is a compilation of input from these companies.  The web site solicits industry input into the standard.

Real Estate Information Standard
The Real Estate Information Standards (REIS) were developed by NCREIF, PREA and NAREIM to increase the consistency with which investments are evaluated and reported. Current chapters in the REIS are:

• Investment and Asset Information Standards
• Valuation Information Standards
• Performance Measurement Standards

Extensible Mark-Up Language (XML)
XML is the next-generation of HTML and is now viewed as the standard way information will be exchanged in environments that do not share common platforms. Special purpose XML languages and standards are practically announced daily and with several hundred already adopted since XML 1.0 was released in February 1998.  The XML.org web site was formed in June 1999 by the non-profit Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Systems (OASIS) to minimize overlap and duplication in XML languages and XML standard initiatives by providing public access to XML information and XML schemas. Today XML.org has grown into a centralized portal and has emerged as a valuable and leading resource to technologists, developers and businesspeople developing purpose-built XML languages.

Mortgage Information Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO)
MISMO's mission is to develop, promote, and maintain voluntary electronic commerce standards for the mortgage industry. It was established in 1999 by the Mortgage Bankers Association of America and on February 4 will publish a draft data and software protocol for the commercial/multifamily mortgage and commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) industries. Two years in the making, the standard will provide defined terms to describe property characteristics and other data elements used in the loan origination process.  The data dictionary will be available for comment for several months before being adopted by the commercial/multifamily working-group of MISMO.