Estate agents accused of supplying false sale prices

jetski

Estate agents in Dublin have been accused of providing misleading sales figures to national newspapers.

The suggestion that agents were exaggerating the prices at which properties had sold, in an attempt to manipulate the market, prompted the property editor of The Irish Times to write to agents claiming that the unfair practice was compromising the newspaper.

Orna Mulcahy, property editor of the newspaper, said the misreporting of prices was ‘‘endemic’’. ‘‘Reported prices were simply being plucked out of the air. Many were as much as 20 per cent off the mark. What was going on was fairly shocking and it forced us to rethink our whole policy.”

http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=IRELAND-qqqm=news-qqqid=32420-qqqx=1.asp

astrofool

This was always going to happen where the sale price of houses is kept a private matter.

For example, I enquired about a property back in November at €575,000 to be told it had gone sale agreed at under that price, it since came back on the market after going sale agreed twice, and now has sold, and in the paper at "just under 575", which has to be complete ballplop.

Hopefully the law will be changed on this, and any EA's that lie about prices get a large fine and closed down.

Jamar

It was said on the radio this morning that surely it has obvious that this would happen if EAs were asked...in a way, it's their job, right.

A paper's job is to check - at least 2 independent sources, right...

ambro25

One of the main reasons why I decided never to buy property, whilever we'd be here. Market prices only known from, and reported on the basis of, figures supplied by... those people most interested in achieving ever-higher market prices: can anyone say 'major conflict of interest'? :rolleyes:

Doesn't take a genius or even a journalist to figure that one out: it didn't way back in late 2004, and it still doesn't now :pac:

EAs simply happen to make very convenient frontline targets, now that the party's over and the growing mob is looking for culprits. But everyone was at it and happy - journos included - until it started to go south.

That said, the scramble for blame-shifting which transpires from the article is quite comical.

jmayo

astrofool wrote: »

This was always going to happen where the sale price of houses is kept a private matter.

For example, I enquired about a property back in November at €575,000 to be told it had gone sale agreed at under that price, it since came back on the market after going sale agreed twice, and now has sold, and in the paper at "just under 575", which has to be complete ballplop.

Hopefully the law will be changed on this, and any EA's that lie about prices get a large fine and closed down.

Jeeze astrofool don't hold your breath on law changes.
Property interests (EAs, auctioneers, develoeprs, builders) are very powerful lobby and our main government party will do nothing to rock their boat :rolleyes:
It will be a bit like the stamp duty payments or rather non payment by developers, where the government excuse not doing anything becuase it might supposedly endanger the market further.

Also why anyone would trust anything auctioneers or estate agents says in the first place is beyond me.
Their professions are based on massaging or being economical with the truth. Just look at their bloody property ads.

Ok I am now old and very cynical :pac:

SkepticOne

http://www.rte.ie/business/2008/0430/mibusiness.html

NATIONAL CONSUMER AGENCY GETS TOUGH WITH ESTATE AGENTS - Estate agents have been given 48 hours to undertake to only publish absolutely accurate sale price details of properties they handle. The National Consumer Agency now says it will use its powers to investigate individual auctioneers and estate agents' past reporting practices. Ann Fitzgerald, from the National Consumer Agency, says that estate agents bodies have until tomorrow to ensure her office that all their members publish the prices of private house sales in the newspapers absolutely accurately. This means that if they put in the price of a house which sold for €600,000 it can't be put in at €650,000 or 'around about €600,000' or even €900,000 as may have happened in some cases.

astrofool

Hopefully the fact that the IAVI also wants this change might make it happen, I think they realise that Estate Agents are seen as no better than pig filth, and need to make things more transparent to restore a modicum of trustability.

SkepticOne

The chairman of the IAVA was on the radio on Monday saying that this exaggerating of figures was counter-productive for EAs in that they gave vendors unrealistic expectations. I think what he might be overlooking is that many of these EAs will have their own portfolio of properties that they are trying to shift. For these EAs it is worth perpetuating the myth of high prices so that they can undercut them when selling their own at the expense of other vendors including their own customers.

I don't expect any action to be taken in this regard, but hopefully the credibility EAs and other vested interests will be further weakened.

DublinDilbert

Did anyone here the spin on it today? Apparently the reason they were giving false selling prices was because of the "Data protection Act", they were not allowed give the actual selling price, so they had to make up one!!! its so irish...

It also just happens they the were making up prices greater than the selling prices