Ontario to Allow Buyers to See All Bids on Real Estate Sales, But Only if the Seller Agrees

Home-sellers in Ontario will soon have the option of allowing their real estate agents to share the contents of competing offers with the buyers bidding on their properties.

The current system of blind offers leads to bidding wars that some say contribute to soaring home prices in the Toronto region because buyers don’t know how much more they need to exceed the next highest offer.

The Ontario government is introducing new real estate regulations that will allow buyers to see competing offers but only if the home-seller chooses to go that route. Real estate agents, who have previously been prohibited from sharing the details of competing offers, would need permission from their seller clients to share the specifics.

The new open offer alternative that would begin next April is among a series of real estate regulations being announced by provincial Government and Consumer Affairs Minister Ross Romano on Tuesday as part of the Trust in Real Estate Act (TRESA) introduced in 2020. That legislation is the modernized version of the 2002 Real Estate Business Brokers Act.