THE British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) on Monday said that they are “reaching out to the Minister of Finance to discuss our support for ongoing work to reduce speculative activities, increase affordability and promote transparency.”

They said that as the organization representing realtors in BC for more than 40 years, they “strongly disapproves of any unethical activities that reduce housing affordability, take advantage of consumers or undermine transparency.”

“Such practices don’t reflect the standards that the overwhelming majority of realtors follow, and are offside with the values of our profession,” said James Palanio, incoming President of BCREA.

“We expect realtors to achieve the highest standards of professionalism, including compliance with laws and the realtors Code of Ethics,” said BCREA CEO Darlene Hyde.

The BCREA said they support the government and the regulator’s recent initiatives to track pre-sale information, tighten the complaint process and enforce higher penalties and de-license where allegations are proven.