Real-estate agents are sold as consumers receive choice
by heathercrawford ~ October 22nd, 2010. Filed under: Comm 101.After four years of feuding between the real estate industry and the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), over the ways in which Canadians buy and sell their homes, the Competition Bureau has helped to establish a consent agreement that allows buyers and sellers to chose what services they want from their real estate agents. Previously consumers had to take on the entire slate of services offered by a real estate agency, but in February the Competition Bureau stepped in challenging CREA’s practices and concluding that they were anticompetitive by limiting consumer choice in the market and preventing real estate agents from offering lower cost services. Once ratified, the new proposed agreement between the CREA and real estate agencies will allow the consumer choice and also legally-bind the CREA. If in the future the CREA decides to act against the agreed terms then the Competition Bureau will once again have to step in as a clearinghouse to make sure all parties are honoring the contract. With the current house market declining, a consent agreement needs to be formed to allow the buyer to be flexible in choosing their strategy when entering the housing market and allow real estate agents to stay in the business.
