The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) administers and manages a set of standard forms, standard clauses and related educational resources for use by REALTORS® in real estate transactions in British Columbia. A sub-set of the standard forms are jointly owned by BCREA and the Canadian Bar Association BC Branch (CBABC), including the Contract of Purchase and Sale.
BCREA receives many inquiries from members of the public, Realtors, lawyers and notaries public, regarding the availability of the forms and requirements when using the forms.
The use of BCREA’s standard forms is a member-only service for BC Realtors and should not be made available to the public, or any non-members of BCREA or CBABC. This includes the posting of any standard forms to a Realtor’s or managing broker’s private website for access or download by consumers.
All BCREA standard forms are copyrighted and carefully version controlled to include any changes to legislation from the government or changes to rules from the regulator. All titles and intellectual rights are the property of BCREA or jointly owned with CBABC. Standard forms are protected documents that can not be accessed, modified, reproduced, copied, distributed or shared without BCREA’s prior written permission.
For more than 25 years BCREA has aimed to strengthen the foundation of real estate transactions in the province by maintaining and administering the legal contracts and related documents in the standard forms. Standard forms are not only essential to the successful completion of real estate transactions across the province but are a valuable member resource intended to:
protect consumers;
help Realtors meet regulatory requirements;
mitigate risk and reduce liability;
enhance professionalism; and
support best practices.
Realtors can help protect the copyright of BCREA Standard Forms that serve the profession.
For more information on BCREA Standard Forms Terms of Use click here. (REALTOR Link® log in required)
BCREA has developed numerous resources to assist you with keeping up to date on the latest information on the Standard Forms Resource Centre.
To access the most current versions of the Standard Forms, please visit WEBForms®here.
For any additional information or questions please contact the BCREA Standard Forms department can be reached at [email protected].
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OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
MONTREAL – The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers says Montreal-area home sales rose 9.3 per cent in August compared with the same month last year, with levels slightly higher than the historical average for this time of year.
The association says home sales in the region totalled 2,991 for the month, up from 2,737 in August 2023.
The median price for all housing types was up year-over-year, led by a six per cent increase for the price of a plex at $763,000 last month.
The median price for a single-family home rose 5.2 per cent to $590,000 and the median price for a condominium rose 4.4 per cent to $407,100.
QPAREB market analysis director Charles Brant says the strength of the Montreal resale market contrasts with declines in many other Canadian cities struggling with higher levels of household debt, lower savings and diminishing purchasing power.
Active listings for August jumped 18 per cent compared with a year earlier to 17,200, while new listings rose 1.7 per cent to 4,840.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
