Have you ever noticed how much prime real estate banks occupy?

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released its annual Mortgage Consumer Survey this week, and as in just about any other business, one finding is that we’re increasingly shopping for mortgages online. It’s no longer even a trend — whether it’s homes or cars, electronics or mortgages, consumers are buying online. It's really not surprising at all that people are online shopping for mortgages since most homebuyers start their home hunting online on websites like ours, Newinhomes.com. 

The survey found that 72% of Canadians research mortgage information online, with 27% of those going mobile to do so. According to U.S. News and World Report, even the popularity of smart watches is driving people away from traditional banking.

It may seem an innocuous development given that we do just about everything else online, but the ever-growing willingness of consumers to deal in virtual realities means that traditional banks are no longer the be-all and end-all when it comes to mortgage lending. Not only are consumers researching their mortgages online, they’re starting to get comfortable buying mortgages from online lenders.

Imagine where this could go — the end of the brick and mortar bank. The first ramification that occurs to me, given my line of work, is all that land. Have a look on any city block and you’ll spot at least one, if not two or three, banks taking up prime space. Corner lots in heritage buildings, hundreds of square feet next to TTC stops.  

It’s not like we need bank vaults to hold cash anymore; most of our “cash” is in “points” on a computer somewhere for the most part. Although we old-schoolers still like a few bucks in cash in our pockets, now that you can swipe your bank card at the Tim’s drive-through, many people don’t even bother to carry a twoonie.

Online banking is easy, and many online banks have ATM networks that mean you can always access a few bucks if you want to. Online banking levels the playing field, too, so your friendly neighbourhood credit union can compete with the big guys.

Online banks can offer lower mortgage rates and higher savings interest because they don’t have the same overhead as traditional banks, and they don’t need the same volume of staff.

The old bond between bankers and consumers is gone, except in smaller towns. Dealings with banks have become strictly transactional — the It’s a Wonderful Life days are gone. It doesn’t matter how much the bank manager believes in you, if she even knows you exist. It’s strictly your credit score, debt to income ratio, and other similar stats that decide whether you qualify for a mortgage.

This is happening — it’s just a matter of when. In an Accenture survey of 4,000 retail bank customers in the U.S. and Canada in 2014, one quarter said they would consider going branchless if they decided to change banks. Nearly 40% of those aged 18 to 34 said they would.

That’s still not the majority, so what will the tipping point be? I believe we’ll see a true end to brick and mortar banking as soon as virtual banks do something traditional banks don’t. Right now, virtual banks are merely providing the same services, just online. Revolutionary financial sites like Kickstarter and Mint have proven what’s possible. As soon as virtual banks start offering pro-active advice that addresses current needs as they change, we’ll start getting all that prime real estate back.

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The Competition Tribunal this week ordered the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) to remove restrictions on sold data to which only its agents have historically had access; the order follows the Tribunal’s April ruling in favour of the Commissions of Competition, which concluded that TREB has abused its dominance in the residential real estate market. TREB - you should not be surprised - has said it will appeal the decision.

In the meantime, it gets me wondering…might we be facing the end of the traditional real estate agent too?