Can I publish market statistics?
The BrokerFold Team — Product + Engineering
Last reviewed
Reviewed against primary sources (TRREB Market Watch publications and market-data pages (© Toronto Regional Real Estate Board; no public reuse or embed offering found), trreb.ca, accessed 2026-07-27 / RECO guidance on advertising sold transactions (consent requirement), accessed 2026-07-27 / Competition Tribunal VOW outcome (appeal declined 2018) as it governs sold-data display) — last reviewed July 27, 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Yes — aggregate, non-identifying market statistics (medians, averages, counts, days-on-market trends) are broadly publishable and are the compliant backbone of market-update marketing in Ontario. The two things that are not broadly publishable: a specific property’s sold details in public marketing, which needs written consent of the parties under RECO’s advertising rules or a VOW login behind it; and the board’s own published reports, which are copyrighted material republished on the board’s terms. Keep those three lanes separate and a monthly market update is one of the safest, highest-value pages an agent can run.
Lane 1: aggregates you compute — publish freely, carefully
Statistics that identify no transaction are marketing, not gated data: median asking price by area, active-inventory counts, months of inventory, sale-to-list trends. Two disciplines keep this lane clean. First, honest derivation — publish numbers you can trace to a data source you are licensed to use, and date them. Second, sample-size sense — in a small pocket with two sales, a “median” points at someone’s house, and the aggregate protection evaporates. This lane is the engine behind market-update marketing, and it is why a site that computes exact stats from its own licensed feed can publish a fresher market page than one that waits for the monthly PDF.
Lane 2: individual solds — consent, or a VOW wall
Ontario’s settled rule since the Competition Tribunal outcome stood in 2018: sold data may be displayed to registered users of a VOW — password-protected, terms-accepted, broker-consumer relationship established. Public advertising of a specific transaction remains a consent matter under RECO’s rules, and the distinction between displaying VOW data and advertising a sold is the whole legal architecture, unpacked in Ontario’s sold data rules. Practical summary: the sold map on your website lives behind registration; the “just sold” post on your feed lives on a signed consent.
Lane 3: board reports — the board’s terms govern
TRREB’s Market Watch and its regional equivalents are copyrighted publications. Republishing their tables, charts, or text follows the board’s terms: attribution at minimum, permission for uses beyond brief quotation, and no implication that board analysis is your own. TRREB’s public market-data pages carry a blanket copyright notice and, as of 2026-07, no public reuse or embed offering we could find — so quote headline figures with attribution, seek permission for reproduction, and ask the board what sanctioned reuse formats it currently offers members before carrying the report verbatim. The durable practice: use board reports as a cited source and a sanity check, and build your recurring market page on lane 1 — statistics you compute and can stand behind.
The compliant market page, assembled
| Element | Lane | Rule of thumb |
|---|---|---|
| Median ask, inventory, DOM trend for an area | Aggregate | Publish, date it, mind small samples |
| Sold-price trend you computed | Aggregate | Publishable when non-identifying; widen thin samples |
| Individual sold with address + price | Individual | VOW-gated, or written consent for public use |
| Board report table or chart | Board material | Attribute brief quotes; permission for reproduction; ask the board about sanctioned formats |
One honesty note that protects the whole practice: publish real freshness. A market page stamped with a real computation date earns repeat visits; a stale page dressed as live data burns exactly the trust the statistics were meant to build.
Frequently asked questions
Can I copy TRREB's Market Watch numbers into my newsletter?
Market Watch is copyrighted board material, so republishing its tables or charts follows TRREB's terms — attribution at minimum, permission where the use goes beyond brief quotation. Quoting a headline figure with clear attribution is common practice; wholesale reproduction without permission is not. Before carrying the report itself, ask TRREB what sanctioned reuse formats it currently offers members rather than assuming one exists.
Can I say what a specific house sold for?
Not in public marketing without written consent of the relevant parties. A specific sold price tied to a specific property is transaction advertising under RECO's rules and gated data under board rules. Behind a VOW login, registered users can see sold data lawfully — which is exactly the mechanism a compliant website uses.
What counts as 'aggregate' — how small can the area be?
The test is whether a reader can identify a transaction. 'Median ask in Leslieville, 41 sales' is aggregate; 'the semi on a certain corner sold over asking' identifies. Small samples deserve care: a one-sale month in a small pocket is effectively an individual sold wearing a median's clothes. When the count is tiny, widen the area or the window.
Keep reading
- Ontario sold data rules What Ontario agents may do with sold data: display it on a VOW to registered users, advertise specific sales only with consent. The rules and their history.
- Show sold prices Ontario Ontario agents can show sold prices on their own website through a VOW: registered visitors, terms acceptance, gated display. The steps, start to finish.
- Market-update marketing How to publish market updates that are compliant and worth reading: aggregate stats done right, the sold-data lines you cannot cross, and formats that repeat.