Real Estate Sold Data – big news about nothing!

Home Sales Price Data will soon be available to the public, a Realtor perspective.

Background:  The competition bureau recently won in it’s ruling that VOW Websites are allowed to show Sold Real Estate data.  The opposing position from Toronto Real Estate Board argued that doing this is a breach of privacy.  Since the competition board won in Toronto it is felt that any further challenges will be won by the competition board so I believe most boards across Canada including the Calgary Real Estate Board have decided to allow this data to be put on VOW Websites.

What makes this change ironic is that in 15 years of Real Estate if anyone asked me for sold data I would give it to them so it has always been available, just now it will be on websites.

Moving Forward:  Realtor.ca has announced that it will include Sold data on it’s website – what that looks like nobody knows yet.  As for this data being put on Realtor websites my opinion is that it will happen but will take some time.

In Calgary we are waiting for instructions from the Calgary Real Estate Board  to determine what we are allowed to do.  Even after a decision is announced it will take some time as a change of this magnitude  is a huge project in Web-site redesign and there is a huge cost.

What effect will this have on Real Estate in Calgary? 

In my opinion little to none.  People do not hire Realtors for Sold Data.  Even with sold data people will still need Realtors expertise to sort through the data, figure out what is relevant and what is not to help homeowners determine the value of their home.  This opinion is based on my experience in the industry and even when we give people the sold data many still have a hard time figuring out a competitive price resulting in all the overpriced listings you see sitting on the market.

Lastly, if you have sold a home you know the value a Realtor brings to the table including advice on pricing, staging, fixing items, renovating,  resale value, marketing strategies that work, what attracts buyers ect ect ect.