Biddwell promises a more transparent market; will it instead be a catalyst for an even more competitive and expensive rental market" It seems like a dream for developers to have their new website name-checked by the mayor just weeks after release. But in the case of Biddwell, a new app from Vancouver that enables renters to place silent bids on apartments, the attention wasn?t exactly what they wanted. Mayor Gregor Robinson didn?t praise the high-tech new startup, he expressed concern the real estate app might accelerate rapidly rising housing costs in a very hot real estate market.
"The potential for that to create more bidding wars with rental housing is a real concern," he told Vancouver?s News 1130 Radio. "With a very low vacancy rate, it?s a very tough market right now for people renting, so we?re watching it very closely." Released last month, Biddwell arrives at a time when Vancouver, like many red-hot real estate markets across Canada and the United States, is experiencing high demand, low vacancy, and incredible pressure on rental prices.  The app promotes its streamlined servie as a way to help tenants, but critics see the app as an accelerant, one that will make a competitive market even more tilted to the wealthy.
According to company CEO Jordan Lewis, the app, which streamlines the process of finding an apartment, lets renters create a rental resume with verified salary and credit scores, allowing them to place b...