Jacky Teplitzky of Prudential Douglas Elliman leads a REBNY discussion, “Pricing Property in a Changing Market”

Brokers heatedly discussed the pros and cons of sharing signed contract information at the Real Estate Board of New York’s Lexington Avenue headquarters today. Jacky Teplitzky, a managing director at Prudential Douglas Elliman, who led a discussion titled “Pricing Property in a Changing Market” as part of REBNY’s monthly Breakfast Club series, advocated for the sharing of signed-contract information in the post-Lehman market, where frequent market fluctuations have made accurate pricing nearly impossible. “The market is changing in such a rapid way that the only numbers we can use are contracts signed,” she said. Closed sales data — available months, or in the case of new development, years after a contract is signed — often no longer reflects current market conditions, she said. But other brokers said they don’t feel comfortable disclosing signed contract data for fear it violates their responsibility to sellers, and it could be considered illegal if not handled correctly. [more]