New legislation in B.C. will allow for a cooling-off period before a home purchase to give buyers time to get financing in order and undertake an inspection. But the BC Real Estate Association is giving a thumbs down to the government regulation that was approved yesterday as part of the Property Law Amendment Act.

A recent independent survey of 1,157 British Columbians shows that only 35 per cent of consumers support introducing such a policy, BCREA said in a statement released today.

“A cooling-off period will likely increase competition for any given property, has the potential to increase prices and does not clearly take risks to sellers into account,” says BCREA Chief Executive Officer Darlene K. Hyde. “Given that the government has again announced plans for policy changes without publicly stated and evidence-based reasoning or proper consultation in advance of committing to the direction, it’s no wonder that consumers don’t have confidence in what they’ve proposed.”

BCREA is calling on the government to consider the following before proceeding with regulatory change:

• Any new policies should protect both buyers and sellers equally. Sellers often become buyers in a real estate transaction and the cooling-off period exposes sellers and the market in general to greater risks and uncertainty.
• Provide evidence-based reassurance that the government’s cooling-off period won’t unintentionally worsen affordability.
• Ensure that consumers and the real estate professionals who support them are appropriately supported during the transition.
• BCREA rejects any suggestion that realtors are not invested in consumer protection and housing affordability. On behalf of realtors, in February 2022, BCREA presented the B.C. government with a white paper with more than 30 recommendations on how to improve housing affordability and strengthen consumer protection.

Instead of a cooling-off period, a key recommendation in the white paper, A Better Way Home: Strengthening Consumer Protection in Real Estate, is the introduction of a pre-offer period of a minimum of five business days from listing during which prospective buyers could hire home inspectors of their choice, review important documents, ensure financing and complete any other due diligence prior to making an offer.

“The realtor profession does not benefit from over-heated market conditions that leave most of their clients frustrated and discouraged, as they lose out again and again on their homeownership dreams,” says Hyde. “It’s time to let go of that harmful preconception and acknowledge the important contributions realtors can make to better protecting consumers and improving housing affordability.”