TorontoRealtyBlog

This story hit the wire on Sunday, and at the risk of stoking the fire here, let me say that I think this fight has legs.

The Ontario Real Estate Association represents about 70,000 agents in the province.  The Toronto Real Estate Board licenses 50,000 agents, all of whom are members of OREA.

With an overlap of 71% of licensees, it was only a matter of time before these two regulatory bodies butted heads…

This article is from The Canadian Press, and thus has appeared in many different media outlets.

I’ve taken the article from the CTV News website.

Here is how it appears in full:

Nicole Thompson and Armina Ligaya, The Canadian Press
Published Sunday, May 13, 2018 10:08AM EDT

TORONTO — The president of Toronto’s real estate board warned leaders of the Ontario Real Estate Association, headed by a former Progressive Conservative leader, to “stay in their lane” in an emphatic letter that relays his concerns that the provincial group is stoking fears about the housing market and becoming too political.

In a letter obtained by The Canadian Press, Tim Syrianos tells the president of the Ontario Real Estate Association — whose chief executive is long-time Tory Tim Hudak — that the organization should turn its focus away from political contests and affordability in the Greater Toronto Area, and stick to its mandate to promote the province’s housing market as a whole.

“It is misguided and ill-advised to attempt to supplant Treb and overtake our expertise and well-respected voice in our marketplace simply for media headlines and political gain,” Syrianos wrote in the letter to OREA president David Reid.

Syrianos expressed concern about the “Ontario Realtor Party,” an OREA campaign that, according to the provincial organization, supports “all political parties and politicians that support the Canadian dream of home ownership.”

He also expressed his discontent with OREA’s plan to use the campaign to endorse specific politicians on billboard advertisements — something he sees as a direct violation of his board’s mandate to promote policies, not people.

OREA is a provincial organization that represents members of Ontario’s local real estate boards, of which TREB is the largest. The Toronto chapter accounts for 50,000 of the 70,000 OREA members in the province.

The letter is dated May 7, just days before the writ was dropped in Ontario`s provincial election, to be held June 7. It also comes during the busiest real estate season of the year, one that is much slower in Toronto than the same time last year, after a number of since-implemented provincial and federal policies have had a cooling effect on the market.

Syrianos lambasted OREA for using members’ dues on the Ontario Realtor Party campaign without their knowledge or consent, and asked OREA for a breakdown of the costs.

In his letter, Syrianos detailed concerns about the recently launched OREA ad campaign, called “Keep the Dream Alive,” saying it is far too negative and suggests that the dream of home ownership is dying — pointing out it will have a particularly negative effect on the Toronto market.

“The negative tone reflected in the recently released commercial could have psychological consequences for consumers and could provoke further unwarranted negative government intervention,” he wrote, adding that he wants details on a $1-million media buy for the commercial in the fall, which coincides with Toronto’s municipal election.

“We expect that you will respect our wishes and OREA will not interfere during the fall municipal elections with similar advertising as local advocacy is the mandate of local boards,” he wrote.

The campaign comes at a particularly troubling time for TREB, which has estimated there were 32 per cent fewer home sales in the Toronto- area in April compared to the record highs recorded in same month last year. Home prices took a 12 per cent hit compared to the same month a year ago. That`s bad news for realtors, who earn commission from every sale.

In April 2017, the provincial government enacted measures that included taxes on vacant properties and a non-resident speculation tax, and the federal mortgage regulator introduced a new stress test for uninsured borrowers at the start of the year. Further adding to the chill, mortgage rates have been marching steadily higher since the beginning of the year.

Syrianos expressed concern that OREA is talking too much about the Greater Toronto Area, which he said is a domain best left to TREB.

He pointed out that the local board and provincial association recently discussed the roles of the local, provincial and federal organizations “to avoid mission creep, the duplication of services … and to ensure that all three levels of organized real estate ‘stay in their lanes.”‘

He said Hudak has “aggressively” pursued “speaking and media engagements” on the Toronto housing market, and has been meeting with and posting about specific brokerages in a perceived “endorsement campaign.”

“We once again request that you stop perpetually lowering the bar while at the same time demanding for it to be raised,” Syrianos wrote.

OREA and TREB declined to comment on the specifics of the letter in a joint statement, writing only that it is “not reflective of the long standing and positive relationship” between the associations, and that they hope to resolve the discussions “amicably and internally.”

Hudak could not immediately be reached for comment.

Is this a juicy story?

Or do some of you not even care?

Perhaps I’m only interested in this because I work in the industry, but I have to think this potential battle between OREA and TREB could have long-term implications.

Now while I’m not looking to take a “side” in this fight, I will offer a description of my own interactions with both OREA and TREB over the last year.

I’ve spoken with Tim Hudak multiple times since he took the role as CEO of the Ontario Real Estate Association, over email, phone, and in person.

I don’t know Mr. Hudak very well, but I will say that in my dealings with him, he seems to genuinely care about the problems that exist in real estate.

When he first took the role at OREA, he sought out top Realtors throughout the province to sit down and speak to them, to get to know what’s on Realtors’ minds.  I met with Mr. Hudak in early 2017, and we covered a variety of topics, all of which he seemed interested in.

Now where the overlap, and varying responses, between OREA and TREB get interesting is with respect to my now-infamous January, 2018 blog post:

“Realtor Stats: How Many Transactions Were Agents Doing In 2017?”

If you recall, I had access to a third-party database that tracked all licensed Realtors’ transactions, and I downloaded the data, and let the public know just how many, or how few, transactions Realtors were doing.

The response was overwhelming.

I had a dozen calls from media members, although to be honest, most just wanted to get their hands on the data.  Only a couple asked questions for stories that seemingly never hit print.

Mr. Hudak reached out to me after the blog was posted, and asked to chat.

I’m not looking to quote him in any way here, but he essentially asked why people were sensitive to the publication of this type of data.

We chatted, and again, I found him to be incredibly receptive, but above all – curious.

Don’t forget, the Ontario Real Estate Association used to handle education.  They don’t anymore.  So what can they do to fill that void?  In my opinion, they’re slowly becoming lobbyists.

Mr. Hudak genuinely seems to care about issues that plague organized real estate.

In my humble opinion, the Toronto Real Estate Board seems very concerned with the number of licensed Realtors.

When I wrote that blog in January, I was immediately told by multiple parties that “TREB did not like it.”

I’m not going to name names here.  I still have to protect myself, ensure I remain licensed and avoid putting a target (more of?) on my back.

But I will say that when my blog post was picked up by REM Online, (link here) I was told that there were “ongoing discussions” at TREB about my article.

I was never contacted by anybody from TREB about this blog post, in any way, shape, or form.  Everything I’ve heard is from people close to me, who are on committees or have other roles at TREB.

But I do know that once my blog post was picked up by REM Online, the third-party company that provided real estate agent statistics (who I won’t name) to whom I was a paying user, cancelled my account, and refused to renew it.

Around the same time, we had a company general meeting, and a member of TREB was present.

When asked about “the article,” that person said something to the effect of, “We don’t believe that article accurately portrays the average TREB agent.”

Correct.

It doesn’t.

Because the average TREB agent is far, far worse than that article could portray.

The average TREB agent is agent #25,000 out of 50,000.  And that agent does zero or one transaction per year, on average.

But I think I’ve already beat that dead horse.

My point is this: after having written that January blog post, I saw two very different reactions from our two real estate groups.

OREA seemed curious about what I had written, and why people were “so sensitive” about the subject.

TREB didn’t like it, and disagreed with it.

Now maybe I’m guilty of taking one experience, and jumping from reactions to ideologies.

But it’s all I really have to go on right now.

That, and TREB’s history.

Remember in 2015 when TREB sent a letter to its members, threatening to take their access to MLS away?  No?  Read about it HERE.

I’m not going to gain any favour with TREB by posting this blog, but what can ya do.

This story might have legs, and if it does, it’s hard to provide a “part two” if you never penned part-one in the first place…

The post TREB vs. OREA: This Could Get Interesting appeared first on Toronto Real Estate Property Sales & Investments | Toronto Realty Blog by David Fleming.