Regulatory officer warns of the proliferation of unscrupulous “lowball” tactics, however
In its latest announcement, the Toronto Real Estate Board revealed that average home prices in the city have jumped up by 20 per cent year-over-year in December (up to $730,472)—a development that has been accompanied by sustained low levels of inventory in the GTA.
The confluence of factors will keep up Toronto’s status as one of the country’s strongest seller’s markets, taking into account the ever-increasing demand from would-be buyers.
Kelvin Kucey, deputy registrar of regulatory compliance for the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO), told CBC News that this will trigger a feverish level of competition in the city’s most desirable neighbourhoods.
Agents will be “trying to swing a deal for their client, and certainly, acting only in their client's best interest,” Kucey said. “It's certainly not with a view to being fair or doing so honestly.”
Among the “questionable tactics” that the Toronto market should look out for is a recently popular practice of some buying agents, wherein they target older sellers who may not be fully aware of the prices their decades-old homes command in the present market.
Strictly speaking, such bad-faith practices might not be illegal, but Kucey said these could certainly constitute breaches of the real estate profession’s code of ethics.
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Toronto area home sales hit record high in 2016, average selling price soars
The confluence of factors will keep up Toronto’s status as one of the country’s strongest seller’s markets, taking into account the ever-increasing demand from would-be buyers.
Kelvin Kucey, deputy registrar of regulatory compliance for the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO), told CBC News that this will trigger a feverish level of competition in the city’s most desirable neighbourhoods.
Agents will be “trying to swing a deal for their client, and certainly, acting only in their client's best interest,” Kucey said. “It's certainly not with a view to being fair or doing so honestly.”
Among the “questionable tactics” that the Toronto market should look out for is a recently popular practice of some buying agents, wherein they target older sellers who may not be fully aware of the prices their decades-old homes command in the present market.
Strictly speaking, such bad-faith practices might not be illegal, but Kucey said these could certainly constitute breaches of the real estate profession’s code of ethics.
Related stories:
Interest rates and market-cooling policies to have clashing effects - analysts
Toronto area home sales hit record high in 2016, average selling price soars
