A motion from Québec solidaire aimed at putting an end to blind purchase offers was rejected by all the other parties Thursday morning in the National Assembly. Both the Liberal Party and the Parti Québécois recommend other ways to facilitate access to property.
“Ensuring the transparency of purchase offers is a zero-cost, simple, pragmatic solution, which would remove weight from the shoulders of an entire generation,” argued the co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire (QS), Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, Thursday morning.
Due to the overheated market, blind offers cause potential buyers to bid well above the seller’s expected price. A particularly widespread phenomenon in the greater Montreal region. The motion presented by QS on Wednesday aimed to force brokers to make offers public to curb the phenomenon.
On Wednesday, the CAQ government and the Liberal Party had already indicated that they intended to vote against. The Parti Québécois abstained on Thursday.
During the debate on Wednesday, the Minister of Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau argued “that such a measure could have a negative economic impact for several households and that the main element which determines the sale price of a house, It’s the buyer’s budget.”
She added that by making offers transparent, we could “encourage some buyers to exceed their maximum budget, following a ripple effect”.
The Liberal Party, for its part, argued that such a measure had produced few results abroad. “Wherever it has been implemented […] as in Australia, in New Zealand, it is always in favor of the sellers because, in reality, it is the price which prevails over the rest. »
The Parti Québécois, for its part, mocked the position of the solidarity groups by arguing that Mr. Nadeau-Dubois had just “discovered” the reality of first buyers and that there was “not only the right of tenants that must be defend,” said PQ housing spokesperson Joël Arseneau.
During its caucus in Alma in January, the PQ announced that it intended to launch a “national project” in terms of housing. The party plans to present a plan to facilitate access to property on February 11.
More details will follow.