How to Find Out How Much a House Sold For

If you’re shopping for a home, selling one, or are simply curious about the market, it can be interesting to look at historical sold home prices. Until recent years, data on prices and the history of a property could not be published by any brokerage or agent. However, this is changing. Sold home prices are becoming more accessible for homebuyers and sellers across Canada. Some areas have more readily available information than others, and you can always connect with a real estate agent if you require that information. Finding out how much a house has been sold for can offer reassurance that you are paying or getting a fair price for your home.

Where Sold Home Prices Can Be Accessed in Canada

Canada’s regulations for selling home prices vary by province and territory. In some, the information is freely and readily available while maintaining Canadian privacy laws. In others, you can access the information without a real estate agent, but only for a fee. And in a few, you cannot access the information at all without a real estate agent. Here is a rundown of what you can access in which province:

RE/MAX provides a reliable source to help you search for home values, or you may use your provincial assessment website. Alternatively, anyone can search for sold home prices in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario.

In Saskatchewan, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, you can access information on sold homes by paying a fee. To do so, you can log onto the provincial government website.

In Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, there are no searches available, paid or free, without the assistance of a real estate agent.

How You Can Find Sold Home Prices

If you live in a province where sold home prices are readily available online, it is very easy to search and find, as long as you know where to look:

1. Choose a website to search. Each province has an assessment website, or you can use the RE/MAX Home Value Estimator tool. Some websites include properties that have sold in the past and will pull information from everywhere a particular home is listed, such as multiple listing services (MLS) reports and databases.
2. Input the relevant information you want to search for, such as a postal code or specific address. A postal code is useful if you want to know how much houses in the neighbourhood have sold for, or you can just search for a particular home if you know which property you wish to check.
3. Check the results. If you entered a postal code, you could click on the homes that interest you for more information. This information will not always be completely accurate, but it will give you a good idea of what homes have sold for in the past.

The Pros and Cons of Knowing Sold Home Prices

In general, real estate agents are the only ones who really need to access sold home prices, but with today’s online services, many people can access this information. The most reliable way to do so is with the help of a real estate agent, to ensure the information is accurate.

If you’re a homebuyer, knowing how much a home has sold for in the past can help you understand whether the property is increasing or decreasing in value, and whether it is priced fairly based on current market conditions. If you’re a seller, accessing sold data can help you price your property fairly, based on market conditions and how much similar properties are selling for.

Privacy concerns are the main reason accessing sold home prices is not beneficial. Some people are uncomfortable with having the information readily available for prying eyes. It can also change the price of a property in a way that is not advantageous for you.

For the most reliable and up-to-date information, contacting a local real estate agent in your area is the best course of action.