Ontario may let realtors tell homebuyers the price of other bids

TORONTO — Ontario is considering allowing realtors to tell prospective home buyers the prices of other offers in bidding wars.

The government launched a consultation Thursday looking at the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, and that’s one rule they’re looking at changing.

Currently, if there are multiple bids on a home, the seller’s broker can only disclose the number of competing offers, but not the details of them.

Through this method in a hot housing market, buyers often can blindly offer more than what they initially planned on spending in hopes of beating their competitor.

The government’s consultation document says disclosing the details of competing offers could give prospective buyers better information to inform their decisions.

Sellers would also know that potential buyers had not been deterred by the prospect of a blind bidding war.

The Ontario Real Estate Association has been pushing for a change to that rule and a broader review of the act, and they say they are thrilled consultations are underway.