Redfin (RDFN.Q) announced their launch in Ottawa, bringing their tech-powered real estate brokerage to Canada’s capitol.
On their app and website, https://www.redfin.ca/, customers will be able to search all the agent-listed homes for sale and see sale prices of homes in the greater Ottawa area. Redfin will be selling homes for just a 1% listing fee and refund a portion of its commission to home-buying clients.
Traditional realtors charge 3%, meaning Redfin can save its users 2%. That may sound small, but on home purchases in the hundreds of thousands, each percent counts.
The housing market in Ottawa is very hot right now. The average home price is up 35% from March 2020 to $758,802. At this price, using Redfin could save users an average of over $15,000.
In addition to the rising prices, the number of properties being sold is up 50%. After a year spent on lockdown in our homes, many people may have become a little too acquainted with some of the things they don’t like about their homes, or maybe they are just looking for an upgrade. Either way, Redfin seems to be getting into the Ottawa housing market at the opportune time.
“I know Ottawans will appreciate Redfin’s customer-centric approach to real estate, combining the best full-service agents with lower fees and technology that makes the process of buying and selling a home easier,” said Uppal. “In this competitive market, homebuyers will love that Redfin can help them find homes first and see them quickly with our Book It Now technology, while working with an expert local agent who knows what it takes to win.”
Redfin launched its Canadian operations last year, beginning in Toronto and Vancouver. Housing sales in Toronto have increased in both value and number over the last year, with March 2021 seeing nearly double the sales of the previous year. Redfin currently has over 4,400 homes listed in Toronto.
Vancouver real estate saw record numbers this March, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. Redfin currently has over 3,800 homes for sale in Vancouver
Currently, Redfin only has ~900 listings in the Ottawa area, but if they see similar results as they did in Vancouver, they could have multiple thousand listings in Ottawa soon.
“Since first launching in Toronto and Vancouver in 2019, Redfin has been steadily growing our brand, web traffic, and most importantly, our track record of happy clients in Canada,” said Blair Anderson, Redfin’s Ontario Broker of Record and market manager. “We’re thrilled to be expanding to Ottawa and introducing consumers to a better way of buying and selling real estate.”
Following the news, Redfin’s share price nudged up slightly to $70.23.