Is the real estate industry a monopoly?

This article, by the nature of my position and profession, cannot be unbiased. But I will try to present all facts and sides to the debate about whether the real estate industry is or is not a monopoly.

The industry in this area (Ontario, Canada) consists of a hierarchy. At the most local level is the homeowner, then the independent contractor operating as a salesperson, then the brokerage, then the local board, then the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA), and finally the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

I include the homeowner because every owner of property is perfectly within their legal rights to sell on their own. In this technologically advanced world, a lone seller has the Internet to get the word out. Craigslist and Kijiji are extremely popular destinations for buyers searching for the right home.

Next, although they must operate in association with a broker (or as a broker themselves), independent salespeople can sell real estate. If they have chosen not to be associated with organized real estate, the methods to get the word out are pretty much the same as the homeowner operating alone. But they can conduct open houses and do some of the legwork that the homeowner would otherwise have to do on their own.

If the broker is part of the local real estate board, the rest of the levels of the hierarchy are assumed, and CREA provides the Multiple Listing Service to all of its members. The MLS®, love it or hate it, contains more listings than any other source. This is because of inertia: once something becomes the primary source of information, it tends to hold on to that title. In addition, the conditions for keeping one's membership in good standing are predicated on ethical and fair trading, including accuracy in MLS entries. So the data is also trusted.

Because of the dominant nature of the MLS, real estate is often characterized as a monopoly, if not in fact, then in perception. The variety of ways in which people can choose to sell their properties, including not using a real estate professional at all, seems to argue against this notion. I firmly believe that the amount of competition even among registered REALTORS®, combined with the variety of advertising options now available to people selling their own properties, means there is no actual (or even virtual) monopoly. In what I perceive as a competitive landscape, my business model is all about service -- I earn my commission by caring about each of my clients and making their real estate transactions go smoothly.