A Commercial Information Exchange (CIE) is an Internet-based commercial property listing service that is operated by a local association to serve the local market. A CIE is the commercial real estate equivalent of the residential Multiple Listing Service

Multiple Listing Service

A multiple listing service is a suite of services that enables real estate brokers to establish contractual offers of compensation , facilitates cooperation with other broker participants, accumulates and disseminates information to enable appraisals, and is a facility for the orderly...

. CIEs help commercial real estate professionals (brokers, property owners, developers, investors, tenants, etc.) share information about commercial property

Commercial property

The term commercial property refers to buildings or land intended to generate a profit, either from capital gain or rental income.-Definition:...

, recent sale or lease transactions, market statistics, and contacts.

CIEs tend to exist in larger markets with a more developed, more organized commercial real estate industry. There are less than 100 CIEs in the United States.

CIEs vary in scope, serving cities, states, or larger regions. They also vary in function, depending on the depth and breadth of data in a particular market. For example, the Louisiana Commercial Database contains primarily commercial for sale or lease in the state of Louisiana while the Commercial Alliance of Las Vegas' CIE includes active listings, off-market properties, and completed transactions in the greater Las Vegas area.

Differences from Residential Multiple Listing Service

There are two key differences between a Commercial Information Exchange and a Multiple Listing Service. CIE participants need not have an exclusive right to sell or lease a property in order to list it on a CIE, and CIE listings need not include details on compensation for cooperating parties.