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“It (would) bring more transparency to that part of the market which currently lacks it,” said Vancouver real estate agent Steve Saretsky, who has been critical of developers selling presale contracts to overseas buyers who then sell them again and again to local buyers at higher prices.

The development industry has been against other housing measures proposed by the NDP, but it supports the curbing of presale assignments.

Realtors, like Vancouver-based Rick Clarke, agree with tracking assignments because he sees hints of the volume. “They should. A lot of people are not reporting and not paying tax and making big gains.”

He says there is “a select group of agents” that have tight relationships with developers who rely on them for being able to sell chunks of pre sale condo units, describing one “known for just having signed 51 contracts in a half-hour.”

By comparison, even though “we are a top one per cent team, we have limited success” in being able to get clients access to any of those units because developers prefer the ease of moving a block of contracts.

Says Clarke: “It’s a different business model. They are order takers whereas we are consultants and take into account a client’s situation. Are they having a baby? Getting a divorce? What do they need?”

The province’s real estate development marketing act says that, unlike in Ontario, for example, developers must have a development permit in hand before they sign presale contracts. But many start “filling up a pipeline” of interested, “VIP clients” long before, in part, to make themselves attractive to developers.

Century 21 real estate agent Mike Stewart — who markets many presale projects long before they launch — didn’t return calls to Postmedia by deadline.

Edgar Sung, a realtor reached via the website AssignCondoNow.com, which lists assignment opportunities across Metro Vancouver, didn’t have a comment on the new rules for developers and what impact it might have on the market.

jlee-young@postmedia.com