What an end to blind bidding for real estate could look like
CBC
Critics of the blind bidding process for real estate are pushing for what they say are viable alternatives that could create a better system for both sellers and buyers.
In provinces across Canada, blind-bidding is the default practice when a home attracts multiple offers. In this scenario, buyers compete to offer the highest purchase price on a home without knowing the dollar amount of the other bids.
"I think there are serious issues with the way we are conducting things right now," said Murtaza Haider, a professor of data science and real estate management at Ryerson University.
Haider says an end to blind bidding could have some impact on volatility in housing prices, but more importantly, "greater efficiency and transparency would bring more trust to the industry, and that should be a priority for the real estate sector."
This past election, the federal Liberals made their stance on the issue clear when they said they'd ban blind bidding as part of their housing platform.
In a new poll commissioned by the CBC, the majority of respondents supported an end to blind bidding. The survey of 1,511 Canadians was conducted between Sept. 17 and 19 using Leger's online panel, and found that 52 per cent supported the elimination of blind bidding, 23 per cent wanted things to stay the same, and 25 per cent said they didn't know.
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