Opening bidding details might not lower housing prices, realtor says

As the Ontario government prepares new real estate regulations that would allow home sellers to share bidding details on their property, prospective home-buyers are welcoming the idea.

The new option is part of a larger regulatory change to the Trust in Real Estate Services Act(TRESA), which goes into effect on April 1, 2023.

“Absolutely. I think it'd be nice to know,” says Karly Teves who has been trying to enter the Windsor-Essex housing market for six months. “I mean, that way people kind of know what they're going up against.”

Teves says it’s been difficult to find a three bedroom starter home in Windsor, explaining bidding wars often end in disappointment.

“You get super excited about a house and then you obviously don't get it because people outbid you by like hundreds,” Teves says.

Teves believes that opening bid details would level the playing field.

“I just try not to get my hopes up, to be honest. I want to be close to my family,” Teves says. “There was a house in Harrow that I was super excited about and I couldn't you know. It sucks when you walk into a house and you can see yourself living there and then it doesn't work out.”

“It definitely would be nice to know at least then you know what you're kind of going in at and then you can kind of match their bid mostly.”

Realtor Dan Gemus in Windsor, Ont. on Wednesday, April 20, 2022. (Chris Campbell/CTV Windsor)

Local realtor Dan Gemus doesn’t expect the move to lower housing prices, suggesting first time home buyers continue to struggle the most.

“Anyone who currently owns a home or has owned a home in the last three years, they're selling their property and taking their equity to the next home with them,” he says.

The CEO of The Dan Gemus Real Estate Team explains, “the first time buyers are the ones that are going to have the hardest time. They're having the hardest time and sometimes they're putting in 20 to 30 offers before being successful and then moving on to a property.”

Gemus notes that other jurisdictions with open bidding systems like Sweden and Australia have not seen housing prices decline.

“In fact, their prices have grown faster than ours here in Canada,” Gemus says. “So it remains to kind of be seen. I don't think personally that there will be much of a difference. I think most sellers would opt given the choice to stay status quo and keep the bidding process closed.”

Gemus tells CTV News buyers continue to migrate from London, Guelph and the GTA where average prices remain higher than in Windsor-Essex.

“At the end of the day, we just need more inventory and it's going to take a long time for that process to get in place,” he says.

House sold in Windsor-Essex, Ont. on Wednesday, April 20, 2022. (Chris Campbell/CTV Windsor)