Toronto, July 8, 2011 – The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) today responded to more legal and publicity manoeuvres by the Commissioner of the Competition Bureau.
"The Commissioner is pressuring TREB to make changes to TREB's own property listing system (MLS®) that TREB believes would violate consumer privacy laws, reduce the quality of the system, and diminish protection for consumers who list their homes in the Greater Toronto real estate market," said Toronto Real Estate Board President Richard Silver.
TREB believes strongly in open competition within a housing market where consumers can be ensured privacy and quality. TREB has recently taken steps to provide secure password-protected websites designed to allow consumers to search and display MLS® listing data.
The Commissioner is pressuring TREB to go further to release private data about individual consumers openly on the internet. TREB believes that would be reckless and, in fact, a violation of the law.
"TREB appreciates that the Commissioner has a job to do, but TREB is the wrong target," said Mr. Silver. "The Commissioner obviously has recognized that her initial Application back in May was faulty. Instead of working with TREB to find a practical solution for consumers, the Commissioner has today decided to pursue an additional legal process that will further delay improvements and further disadvantage consumers."
TREB will continue to work on behalf of its Members and consumers to ensure the highest quality of safe and secure service to consumers within the Greater Toronto real estate market.
Source: Treb
Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 10,230 home sales through the TorontoMLS® system in June 2011 – up 21 per cent compared to June 2010. This number represented the third best June result on record behind 2007 and 2009. The number of transactions during the first six months of 2011 amounted to 48,189 – down by 4.5 per cent compared to the first half of 2010.
"The strong June result capped off an interesting first half of 2011," said Toronto Real Estate Board President Richard Silver. "The pace of sales was a bit sluggish at the beginning of the year, but rebounded in May and June. Because of the positive affordability picture, home buyers remained confident in their ability to purchase and pay for a home over the long term."
The average price for June transactions was $476,371 – a 9.5 per cent increase over June 2010. Through the first six months of the year, the average selling price was $467,169 – almost an eight per cent increase compared to the same period in 2010.
"While sales have been strong, we would be on track for a record number of transactions in 2011 if not for the decline in listings so far this year," said Jason Mercer, the Toronto Real Estate Board’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. "Tight supply meant more competition between home buyers and an accelerating annual rate of price growth in the second quarter."
"Home owners will likely react to the stronger price growth by listing their homes in greater numbers. A better supplied market would result in more moderate price increases," continued Mercer.
"The Commissioner is pressuring TREB to make changes to TREB's own property listing system (MLS®) that TREB believes would violate consumer privacy laws, reduce the quality of the system, and diminish protection for consumers who list their homes in the Greater Toronto real estate market," said Toronto Real Estate Board President Richard Silver. 
