John Pasalis in Real Estate Roundup
CREA and the Competition Bureau
The Globe and Mail recently published an update on the proposed settlement between the Canadian Real Estate Association and the Competition Bureau. The Globe reports that sellers will be able to list their home on the Multiple Listing Service for a flat fee but they will still have to pay buying agents for bringing a purchaser.
That compromise is the cornerstone of a landmark settlement between the Canadian Real Estate Association and the Competition Bureau of Canada, say people briefed on the matter - The Globe and Mail
Today brokerages are not able to post a property on the MLS if they don't offer any compensation to the co-operating brokerage. In most cases the commission offered to the co-operating brokerage is roughly 2.5% of the sale price but there is no rule stating that it has to be that high. In fact, the commission to the co-operating brokerage can be as low as $1, which makes one wonder why CREA fought so hard for this "compromise".
Realtors keep grip on MLS in deal with feds (Globe and Mail)
Canadian Home Prices, Are they Up or are they Down?
The Canadian Real Estate Association released their September sales figures this week and half the media headlines announced a slight increase in sales while others reported a 20% decline in sales. So are sales up or are they down?
CREA's seasonally adjusted (a statistical method for removing the seasonal component of a time series) sales increased 3% in September. But when we compare sales in September 2010 against the same month in the previous year, sales were down 20%.
Home sales rise slightly in September (Globe and Mail)
Canada September Housing Resales Rise 3 Percent, Real Estate Group Says (Bloomberg)
September home sales drop 20% compared with 2009 (Toronto Star)
September home sales down: CREA (CBC)
New Home Prices Up in August
Canadian new house prices up in August (Toronto Star)
New home prices still climbing (Financial Post)
Canada August New Home Price Index Unexpectedly Rose 0.1%, Led by Hamilton (Bloomberg)
New home prices edge higher (CBC).
Interest Rates
Economists want BoC to keep raising interest rates (CTV)
Banks move to cut fixed mortgage rates (CBC)
Other Real Estate News
A hot pocket in south Riverdale (Globe and Mail)
Fabulous facades (National Post)
Countrywide’s Mozilo settles with SEC (Globe and Mail)
Mukesh ready to move into mansion in the sky (The Times of India)
John Pasalis is the Broker Owner of Realosophy Realty Inc in Toronto. Realosophy focuses on researching Toronto neighbourhoods to help their clients make smarter real estate decisions. Email John
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October 16, 2010
This Week In Real Estate |