The Canadian Real Estate Association(CREA) has announced that it’s starting a pilot program that will allow the public to see real-time offers as they are registered on properties via REALTOR.CA. The details regarding the launch of this program are still vague as they are still completing their due diligence on determining the appropriate place or places to launch.
CREA’s Chief Executive Officer Michael Bourque stated, “Multiple offer scenarios have become increasingly commonplace in today’s real estate environment. Canadian property buyers and sellers seek greater confidence in the process, while Canadian realtors seek tools to enable and more easily manage these situations. We’re very excited about the potential of this pilot to address both.”
Canada is looking to follow in the footsteps of other countries like Australia, which uses an open bidding system, as a means to cool the Canadian housing market. They will be using a software from an Australian real estate company called Openn Negotiation Ltd.
“Through six-plus years of development, execution, and innovation in the Australian market, we have proven that both the real estate professional and consumer benefit greatly from enhanced transparency,” Duncan Anderson, executive director of Openn and president of Openn North America said. “We are thrilled by the opportunity to partner with CREA to introduce Openn Offers to the Canadian marketplace.”
Currently in Ontario in blind bidding scenarios, listing agents can legally only disclose the number of offers that have been received on a property and no other details. The Ontario Real Estate Association has proposed to have the choice between blind and open bidding be at the discretion of the Seller.
At the Anderson Realty Group we are pro-choice, and our belief is that the decision as to whether they would prefer an open or blind offer process should rest with the Seller of the home and not the government. We believe it will be our obligation to heavily research other countries markets where these options are currently available to Sellers, as well as the pros and cons of both strategies in fluctuating markets. We will continue to deliver optimal strategies for our Seller’s in all market conditions.
We look forward to discussing these forecasted changes and what they mean for our market and our clients as more information becomes available. If you have any questions in the interim, we welcome your questions and please note as soon as any changes are concrete, we will make our client base aware immediately.
