IAVI warning on revealing house prices

Auctioneers have warned that the property market will become significantly less transparent once it complies with demands from the National Consumer Agency (NCA) on the publication of property selling prices.

The IAVI which represents close to 2,100 members, made the prediction after confirming it had reached agreement with the NCA which will prohibit its members from publishing any sale figures other than the exact selling price.

The IAVI said that in future, terms such as “region of”, “close to” or “above” would not be used by its members and accepted that the publication of results, when they occurred, would have to be timely.

At a meeting with the IAVI and the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (IPAV) on Tuesday, the consumer agency relayed its "very serious concerns" in relation to the accuracy of private treaty sale prices that are published in newspapers.

It pointed out that the provision of false information was illegal under the Consumer Protection Act 2007 and reminded both organisations that it had extensive powers under the Act, which it would not hesitate to use if necessary.

The Agency had sought the meeting after a letter was written by The Irish Times to estate agents about some exaggerated sales prices being submitted for publication in its property supplement.

Confirming that the IAVI would comply with the NCA demand, its president Edward Carey said the changes would create a lack of transparency in the market because the publication of actual sales price would require the consent of the seller and buyer under the Data Protection Act.

“Unless the legislation changes it is likely that very few sale prices, other than the small portion of properties sold publicly at auction, will be made known to the public,” he said. “The IAVI has advised the National Consumer Agency that the solution being adopted will result in a market that lacks transparency.”

Mr Carey called on the Government to find a way to address the shortage of information it says will result from the changed policy “if consumers’ real interests are to be served.”

He said it would be necessary to either instruct the Valuation Office to collate and publish a register of all property sales or to amend the Data Protection Act to permit auctioneers, estate agents and valuers to release exact sale prices and rents without the consent of sellers, buyers, landlords or tenants.

“In the view of the IAVI, any such changes should also be retrospective so that historic data may be published to provide an accurate picture of past prices and rents,” he said.

While recognising people’s rights to confidentiality, Mr Carey said the IAVI believed to maintain a sound property market accurate data on sales and lettings needed to be readily available.

“A properly informed property market and consumer are of greater importance to the national economy, and the needs of consumers as a whole must outweigh the concerns of individuals involved in property transactions,” he said.

The NCA welcomed the assurances from both the IAVI and IPAV that its members will in the future publish and report accurate sales prices for properties sold through private treaty or withdrawn from auction. However its chief executive Ann Fitzgerald warned estate agents who were not members of these bodies that the law also applied to them and said there was “also an onus on newspapers not to publish information which they know to be inaccurate”.

On the issue of timing, Ms Fitzgerald said that it was unacceptable for estate agents to publish the sale price of a particular house long after it has been sold “as the market may have moved in the interim and that sale price will no longer be applicable.”

Ms Fitzgerald also reminded consumers that if they had any reason to believe that sale prices were being reported inaccurately they should make contact with the NCA immediately”.