A Vancouver realtor is cheering an Ontario court decision that could one day allow B.C. consumers to find data such as how much a property sold for, online.
On Friday, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld a 2016 Competition Tribunal ruling that found the Toronto Real Estate Board’s (TREB) ban on sharing home sales data online is anti-competitive.
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The tribunal also said TREB must provide data such as sales figures, pending sales and broker commissions, which it does not currently disclose.
TREB says it plans to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Real estate boards in B.C. do not currently share the type of data covered in the Ontario case either — something Vancouver Steve Saretsky hopes to see change.
Saretsky said striking the ban down was the right move, because it puts more power in the hands of consumers, who he said are often “going in blind.”
“They are at the mercy of their realtor and what kind of information that realtor wants to send them. So I think, ultimately, if people want to make informed decisions they should have access to a lot of the tools that are going to help them do that,” he said.
Saretsky said some people in the real estate industry fear that releasing data such as home sale prices will reduce the role of the realtor.
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But he said in jurisdictions like the U.S., where that data is available to the public, it hasn’t caused undue harm.
“Even speaking with realtors that I know in the States, it’s actually only enhanced their value, really, because that way they’re able to have an informed conversation with clients and everyone is really on the same page in terms of what things are selling for.”
TREB has also argued that publishing sensitive data, such as the price a home sold for, could violate consumers’ privacy.
But Saretsky said that he doesn’t believe releasing the data would come with privacy concerns or risk undoing deals, because the information is only made public after a sale is closed.
But he said with the battle likely going to the Supreme Court of Canada, it could be a year or more before B.C. buyers could take advantage of the provision.
-With files from the Canadian Press