CREA CEO Michael Bourque Statement on Artificially Low Pricing Strategies
“We know the Canadian housing market has hit many records through the pandemic because of persistent supply challenges and increased demand. We also know Canadian home buyers, sellers and REALTORS® have had to adapt to these changing market conditions.
We’re concerned that a small minority of sellers and their advisers may be seeking to engineer bidding wars based on advertised listing prices, in some cases as low as one dollar, that bear no relationship whatsoever to what a seller may be willing to consider for a property. These types of listings can distort the market in significant ways: by failing to give any indication of the seller’s expectations; by dissuading prospective buyers from making an offer and in discouraging good faith offers based on unrealistic advertised listing prices. These distortions can create real costs for consumers and REALTORS® involved in transactions.While the listing price is ultimately a decision for the seller, we encourage REALTORS® to advise their clients to advertise properties based on market conditions and realistic seller expectations.”- Michael Bourque, CEO, The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA)