Brett Warren , National Director – Metropole Group
If you’ve been house-hunting in Melbourne and felt like the price guide didn’t match the final sale price, you’re not alone – and Consumer Affairs Victoria is stepping in.
New guidelines have just been released to tighten how agents select comparable sales when estimating a property’s selling price. Under Victoria’s underquoting laws, agents must already list three recently sold local properties in the Statement of Information. But now, they’ll need to go further – factoring in whether those properties were renovated or not, whether they were fully built or vacant land, and even differences in school zones or proximity to shops.
Why does this matter? Because for too long, some agents have cherry-picked lower-priced or less comparable sales to make a property seem more affordable than it really is. That’s frustrating for buyers and distorts the market for investors trying to assess true value.
The underquoting taskforce has already issued over $2.3 million in fines and received more than 5,000 complaints – many from within the industry itself. That tells us there’s strong support for a fairer playing field.
For Melbourne investors, this is a welcome move. It means more transparency, better data, and fewer wasted weekends chasing underquoted properties. For homebuyers, especially first-timers, it’s a step toward restoring trust in the process. At Metropole, we’ve always believed in making informed decisions based on facts, not hype. These changes reinforce the importance of doing your due diligence – and working with advisors who understand the market beyond the headlines.
