Overview

• Investigations by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald scraped over 200,000 listings to find that 52% of Melbourne auctions and 48% of Sydney auctions sold above the top end of their quoted guides.
• Sydney homes averaged $165,000 above their guides, with 16% fetching at least 20% more and some properties selling over 30% beyond agent estimates.
• NSW Fair Trading identified 284 underquoting breaches in two years but fined just 137 agents A$2,200 each, a penalty dwarfed by typical A$20,000–A$40,000 commissions.
• No government body consistently monitors or publishes pre-auction price guides alongside final sale prices, leaving buyers without reliable data.
• Victoria’s government has refused to release its 2022 inquiry report on underquoting, intensifying calls for stronger oversight and full transparency.