Marking six months of the Minns Labor Government’s Name and Shame Register, NSW Fair Trading’s Strata and Property Taskforce has covertly blitzed open homes across NSW to identify agents engaging in underquoting and other breaches of property sales laws.
Underquoting is where a real estate agent advertises a property at a price which is lower than their reasonable estimate of its selling price. This is done to attract more interest, which creates fake competition and pushes prices up. It wastes buyers’ time, effort and money.
Ahead of the spring selling season, the Taskforce has attended almost 80 open home inspections over the past two months. This has resulted in 10 agents being issued with fines valued at a total of $20,900, alongside five warnings and 16 education directives.
Posing as prospective buyers, inspectors attended open homes before reviewing agency sales records, vendor feedback and advertising material to determine whether price information provided to consumers was accurate and consistent with agency records.
The operation identified a range of alleged underquoting, consumer protection and record-keeping breaches.
In one matter, an agent was fined for telling prospective buyers a property was expected to sell for $3.65 million. However, a review quickly discovered the agency’s own records estimated the property’s value at between $4 million and $4.4 million, while online advertising used a $4 million search price.
Meanwhile, another agent was issued a warning for recording and reporting purchaser feedback that did not accurately reflect conversations which took place during an open home inspection. Behaviour like this has the potential to mislead the seller about buyer sentiment and price expectations.
This operation builds on the Minns Labor Governments reforms to strengthen the state’s underquoting laws which recently passed NSW Parliament. Consultation on the regulations for these laws is currently underway with industry stakeholders.
It also marks the first six months of the Name and Shame Register, which has recorded 118,000 visits since February. Launched earlier this year, the Register provides a central, publicly accessible record of disciplinary and enforcement action taken against real estate agents, strata managers and agencies, helping consumers make informed decisions before they sign on the dotted line.
The Government has invested $8.4 million in the Strata and Property Taskforce to bring together specialist inspectors, investigators and dispute resolution experts to crack down on misconduct and lift professional standards to support consumers.
While most property professionals do the right thing, NSW Fair Trading will continue to target those who fail to meet their obligations and undermine consumer confidence in the sector.
This is all part of the Minns Labor Government’s plan to create a fairer, more transparent property market.
Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading Anoulack Chanthivong said:
“When the Minns Labor Government established the Strata and Property Taskforce, this is exactly the kind of work we envisioned they would do.
“Buying a home is one of the biggest financial decisions you can make, and people deserve confidence that price information is accurate and transparent.
“This operation shows that NSW Fair Trading is actively monitoring the market and taking swift action where real estate agents are not meeting their obligations.”
Strata and Property Services Commissioner Angus Abadee said:
“Strong compliance benefits consumers, but it also benefits the many agents who do the right thing by ensuring they are not competing against businesses willing to cut corners or ignore the rules.
“The overwhelming majority of property professionals do the right thing, but those willing to push the boundaries should be on notice that Fair Trading officers could be at their next open home.”
