Real estate board vows to step in and correct false listings
A recent investigation by Global News has uncovered that multiple home listings in the Okanagan have been falsely listed as being located in a highly desirable area – a phenomenon that the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board has promised to address.
Specifically, the listings were erroneously listed by agents to have been located in Lower Mission, one of the most sought-after markets in Kelowna.
A home actually located in the Springfield/Spall area has already been sold over a year ago, while another listing currently under construction is actually situated in KLO Road near Benvoulin.
“We have taken steps to rectify these listings,” Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board CEO Lynette Keyowski said. “There are listings that have been placed in the wrong sub-area, so thank you for bringing that to our attention.
“We have notified all of the people — the realtors who have listed in the inappropriate places,” Keyowski added. “As a matter of fact, again based on [Global’s] phone calls, many of them have called us and asked ‘What can we do to fix this? We didn’t even realize that it was wrong, can you please give us a hand?’ So we’ve worked with them and rectified the issue.”
Read more: CMHC pushing for stricter fraud detection mechanisms
Earlier this year, industry players in the Okanagan expressed fears that the B.C. government’s decision to hike the foreign home buyer’s tax and introduce a speculation tax will make noticeable waves in the market.
Okanagan developers warned that the measures could negatively impact the building and sales of recreational and second homes for people outside of the province.
