NSW Introduces New Laws to Crack Down on Property Underquoting

NSW Fair Trading News

Published March 15th, 2026

Detected March 16th, 2026

Summary

The NSW government is introducing new legislation to combat property underquoting. The laws significantly increase penalties for real estate agents, mandate price guides on advertising, and enhance transparency requirements for property sales.

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What changed

The NSW government, through the Minns Labor administration, is enacting new laws aimed at curbing property underquoting. These reforms will introduce significantly increased penalties for real estate agents, raising them from $22,000 to $110,000 or three times the agent's commission, whichever is greater. Penalties for dummy bidding will also double to $110,000. The legislation mandates the inclusion of a price or price guide on all property advertisements and requires agents to publish a Statement of Information detailing how the selling price was calculated, including comparable sales and the suburb's median price. Agents will also be prohibited from advertising a sale price lower than a previously rejected offer or the highest unsuccessful auction bid.

These changes impose new obligations on real estate agents and will require them to revise estimated selling prices according to new guidelines. NSW Fair Trading will receive expanded enforcement powers, including the ability to require public disclosure of misconduct or independent price estimate verification. The reforms also aim to improve continuing professional development for agents. Regulated entities, primarily real estate agents and agencies operating in NSW, must ensure their advertising and pricing practices comply with these new mandates. Failure to comply will result in substantially increased financial penalties and potential disciplinary actions.

What to do next

Update advertising practices to include price guides or price ranges.
Revise internal processes for calculating and revising estimated selling prices according to new guidelines.
Ensure compliance with new requirements for publishing a Statement of Information.

Penalties

Penalties for underquoting increased from $22,000 to $110,000 or three times the agent’s commission, whichever is greater. Penalties for dummy bidding increased from $55,000 to $110,000.

Source document (simplified)

Ministerial media release

NSW cracks down on underquoting with tough new laws

Published: 15 March 2026 Released by: Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading Listen The Minns Labor Government will introduce new legislation this week to crack down on underquoting, creating a fairer and more transparent property market.

The proposed laws are designed to ensure home buyers can be confident they are not being ripped off when looking for their next home. The reforms will crack down on misleading price estimates in property listings, known as underquoting, by imposing new obligations on real estate agents, improving transparency in property listings and boosting NSW Fair Trading’s enforcement powers.

The proposed laws will:

Remove the financial incentive to break the law by significantly increasing penalties for underquoting from $22,000 to $110,000 or three times the agent’s commission, whichever is greater.
Double penalties for dummy bidding at auctions from $55,000 to $110,000.
Mandate a price or price guide on all advertising, so prospective buyers don’t waste their time on properties that are outside of their budget.
Require agents to publish a Statement of Information (SOI) to help buyers understand how the selling price was calculated, including comparable sales and the suburb’s median sale price.
Require agents to calculate and revise the estimated selling price of a property in accordance with new, clearer guidelines.
Prohibit agents from advertising a sale price lower than a previously rejected written offer or the highest unsuccessful bid at an auction. Fair Trading will be given expanded powers to respond to serious breaches, including requiring agents to publicly disclose their misconduct or have their price estimates independently verified by a qualified valuer.

The reforms will also improve continuing professional development obligations by giving Fair Trading formal powers to approve training providers and training courses, and by introducing penalties for agents who fail to undertake required training.

Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading Anoulack Chanthivong said:

“The focus of the Minns Labor Government is simple: a fair property market that works for everyone.

“These reforms are a significant step forward in protecting home buyers from unscrupulous real estate agents taking advantage of a tight housing market.

“By significantly increasing penalties for underquoting, we are ensuring misconduct can no longer be written off as a cost of doing business, but as a meaningful deterrent.

“The changes will also empower NSW Fair Trading to tackle misrepresentations of property prices through stronger disciplinary action, better enforcement tools and improvements to mandatory education and professional standards.”