The Canadian Competition Bureau is taking aim at the Canadian Real Estate Association and the fees charged to sellers for the sale of property.
In a nutshell, the competition bureau thinks there is an anti-competitive environment since over 90 percent of home sales come about via MLS listings, and in order to be listed on MLS, you must be an agent. Furthermore, the listing agent always gets to present the offer to the seller, which means, when the deal closes, the listing agent gets a commission from the sale.
There are a couple critical elements the bureau is demanding be changed.
- Sellers should be able to post listings on the Multiple Listing Service without having an agent. An acceptable fee will be charged for using MLS, but the seller won’t be required to have an agent.
- The seller can receive offers without using an agent. Currently, all offers must be provided to the selling agent, who then presents the offer to the client. This ensures a commission to that agent. If offers are sent directly to the seller without involving the agent, it will reduce the commission being paid by the seller.
While the demands are on the table, the Canadian Real Estate Association is by no means caving and has planned an emergency meeting in December. It’ll be interesting to see what, if any, changes will be made to future real estate sales.
