Tag: real estate news uk

Realtor group will pay $418M to settle commission lawsuits

A powerful real estate trade group has agreed to do away with policies that for decades helped set agent commissions, moving to resolve lawsuits that claim the rules have forced people to pay artificially inflated costs to sell their homes.

Under the terms of the agreement announced Friday, the National Association of Realtors also agreed to pay $418 million to help compensate home sellers across the US

Home sellers behind multiple lawsuits against the NAR and several major brokerages argued that the trade group’s rules governing homes listed for sale on its affiliated Multiple Listing Services unfairly propped up agent commissions. The rules also incentivized agents representing buyers to avoid showing their clients listings where the seller’s broker was offering a lower commission to the buyer’s agent, they argued.

As part of the settlement, the NAR agreed to no longer require a broker advertising a home for sale on MLS to offer any upfront compensation to a buyer’s agent. The rule change leaves it open for individual home sellers to negotiate such offers with a buyer’s agent outside of the MLS platforms, although the home seller’s broker has to disclose any such compensation arrangements.

FILE - A home under construction marked as "SOLD" at a development in Eagleville, Pa., is shown on Friday, April 28, 2023. The United States is slogging through a housing affordability crisis that was decades in the making. The shortage pours cold water on President Joe Biden's assurances that the US economy is strong and underscores the degree to which Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, has largely overlooked the issue. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE - A sale sign stands outside a home in Wyndmoor, Pa., June 22, 2022. One of the nation's largest real estate brokerages has agreed Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, to pay $70 million as part of a proposed settlement to resolve more than a dozen lawsuits across the country over agent commissions. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

The trade group also agreed to

Real estate agent Julie Bundock had a relationship with client before she accidentally torched her $3.2M home before an open house inspection

The real estate agent who accidentally burned down a $3.2 million home before an open house inspection had previously been in a relationship with the owner, court documents reveal.

Julie Bundock’s employer, Domain Residential Northern Beaches, was ordered to pay $862,315 to the owner and four tenants for negatively causing a fire which burned the house to the ground.

It can now be revealed that Ms Bundock was previously in a relationship with Peter Bush, who was preparing to sell the house at the time of the incident, news.com.au reported.

When she was being cross-examined by Mr Bush’s lawyer Dominic Priestley SC, Ms Bundock said the pair had been in a relationship when they were younger and were still friends in 2019.

Ms Bundock is not accused of any criminal wrongdoing and there is no suggestion she acted with malicious intent when she accidentally caused the fire.

Northern beaches real estate agent Julie Bundock accidentally burned down the Avalon Beach home

Julie Bundock was preparing for an open house at a four-bedroom home on Sydney’s prestigious northern beaches when she noticed the current renters had left some bedding on the deck to dry

Earlier this week, Daily Mail Australia revealed

Interest rate cuts could soon diminish real estate investment opportunities in Ontario

Published March 22, 2024 at 5:47 pm

Real estate investment opportunities across the GTA and Ontario, such as the purchase of a new condo, could diminish soon due to interest rate cuts.

The Bank of Canada has indicated that it will cut its overnight lending rate three to five times this year. It’s a certainty that condominium prices will start increasing immediately after the first announcement, says Diane Bertolin, partner at Alliance United Corporation, a developer with over 30 years of collective experience.

The central bank’s rate cuts will likely begin in June. If five cuts do indeed occur, that will most likely bring its overnight lending rate to 3.75 per cent — which also means that condo prices could start increasing as early as July, making now the ideal time to purchase a condominium.

“There’s an inverse relationship between interest rates and condo pricing because vertical homes are the affordable alternative to single-family homes, which sell for more than $1 million, in the Greater Toronto Area. That means, according to historical trends, condo prices will increase as interest rates reduce,” Bertolin said.

Diane Bertolin, partner at Alliance United

Canada’s central bank had previously