Tab 4 · NSW Fair Trading and Consumer Affairs Victoria
Property prices in ads and posts: NSW and Victoria
In NSW and Victoria, an agent may not advertise a residential property at a price below the agent’s own estimate of its selling price, and price ranges are held to 10%: for the estimate in NSW, and for the advertised price in Victoria. Both states rule out words such as ‘offers above’ and a plus sign after a price. Victoria’s rules from 1 October 2026 add a reserve price published before an auction or fixed-date sale, and a Property Price Statement shown or linked right beside the price in the main online ad.
General information about each state’s published guidance, not legal advice. The official places to check are NSW Fair Trading and Consumer Affairs Victoria.
The two states side by side
Both states write these rules for agents selling residential property. Victoria’s don’t reach rural, commercial or industrial sales, which stay under the Australian Consumer Law.
Neither state’s pages mention social media by name. NSW’s rule covers advertising and any communication with prospective buyers while a property is being marketed, and Victoria’s statement rule is written for “any main online advertisement for the property”, a phrase its page does not apply to posts either way.
| Rule | NSW | Victoria |
|---|---|---|
| What underquoting is | A statement or ad about a residential property’s price that is below the agent’s reasonable estimate of its likely selling price. | Underquoting can occur when a property is advertised at a price below the agent’s estimated selling price, below the seller’s asking price, or at a price the seller has already rejected. |
| Price ranges | If the agent’s estimated selling price is a range, its top may not be more than 10% above the bottom. | A single figure or a range of up to 10%. |
| Words and symbols | No ‘offers above’, no ‘offers over’, and no plus sign after a price such as $500,000+. | No added words or symbols, for example ‘from’, ‘offers above’ or ‘+’. |
| The seller’s wishes | A seller can tell the agent not to disclose the estimate, and then the agent gives no price in ads, in writing or aloud. If the seller wants more than the estimate, the agent can advertise a higher price. | If the seller names an asking or reserve price during the campaign, the agent can’t advertise below it. With no asking price, the agent can’t advertise below its own estimate. |
| When the estimate moves | The agent takes all reasonable steps to amend or retract ads showing a price below the revised estimate. | If the seller’s reserve or asking price, a rejected written offer or the agent’s estimate changes during the campaign, the agent must update the price information given to buyers; not doing so is underquoting. |
| Penalties | A penalty notice of $2,200; in court, a fine of up to $22,000, and the agent could lose the full commission and fees for the property. | More than $50,000 (240 penalty units); for serious offences, such as advertising below the estimate, the agent may also lose any commission. |
NSW explains why ‘offers over’ is out: it doesn’t tell buyers enough to know whether a property is in their range, and suggests a sale at the advertised floor when a higher price is more likely. The laws exist, it says, so that buyers don’t spend money and time on inspections, reports and auctions for homes beyond their reach.
Victoria, from 1 October 2026
- 1 October 2026Most of the new rules start, and the Property Price Statement replaces the Statement of Information.
- 9 October 2026The day by which the reserve price for an auction or fixed-date sale on 16 October 2026 had to be published.
- 16 October 2026The new requirements apply to auctions and fixed-date sales held on and from this day.
- 1 December 2027Agents will have to give sold price information to the Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria, unless granted an exemption.
The statement beside the price
Consumer Affairs Victoria says the Property Price Statement must be, among other things:
“prominently displayed on any main online advertisement for the property, which means it must be displayed visibly or via a hyperlink immediately next to the advertised price on the first visible part of the listing”
Consumer Affairs Victoria, underquoting information for real estate agentsIts summary of the change puts it in plainer words: prominent in online ads, not right at the bottom of the listing.
The reserve price, a week ahead
For an auction or fixed-date sale, the agent has to publish the seller’s reserve price at least 7 days before, and the sale can’t go ahead unless it has been published for the full 7 days. The reserve is a single dollar amount with no extra words or symbols like ‘from’, ‘over’, ‘+’ or ‘starting at’. A fixed-date sale is any method where the seller sets a date and time by which buyers must make offers.
The sold price, afterwards
Once a sale becomes unconditional, the agent adds the sold price to the statement within 7 days, unless an exemption has been granted, and keeps the statement published online for at least 18 months. Exemptions can be sought for circumstances of family or personal violence involving the seller or buyer. The sale price also need not be disclosed where the agent’s written engagement or appointment to sell was entered into before 1 October 2026 and includes a term requiring the price not to be disclosed.
Spoken prices count too
In NSW, the bar on a price below the estimate covers written and spoken quotes alike, and, in the guidance’s words, “applies to advertising the property or in any communication with prospective buyers while marketing the property.” An agent who states a likely selling price while marketing must make a written record of it. Victoria’s buyer guidance says “it is illegal for a seller or agent to misrepresent a property in any way when advertising or marketing that property, whether verbally or in writing.”
Neither state’s price rules replace the consumer law. Victoria describes its underquoting laws as complementing the Australian Consumer Law’s provisions on false and misleading representations. NSW warns that quoting the estimate when the seller has said they will only sell for more may be false or misleading under that law.