Tuesday, 22 February 2022

Real estate agents underquoting

Mr FREGON (Mount Waverley) (19:07): (6219) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, and the action I seek is for the minister to update the house on the newly announced property market review and how it will benefit the Mount Waverley district community. The last few years have seen Melbourne’s housing prices continue to grow and it has become increasingly difficult for buyers to manage their pricing expectations. I have heard from my constituents in the Mount Waverley district that inequitable sales transactions and underquoting are far too common and that they intensify the existing concerns and anxieties that homebuyers already face. I was very glad to see that we have heard the growing concerns and that we are taking steps to address them.

The Andrews Labor government introduced tough new laws to combat underquoting, which came into effect in May 2017, because we recognise that every Victorian homebuyer should have a fair go and that deceptive tactics used by real estate agents seek to threaten that. These laws provide a greater transparency around an agent’s estimated selling price and improve the information available to homebuyers. These laws also impose significant non-compliance penalties and grant Consumer Affairs Victoria substantial enforcement powers. Since then CAV has found dozens of agencies have failed to meet their representation obligations. These important laws make the property market more transparent for buyers. The Andrews government has already taken significant steps to make the housing market more transparent for homebuyers and vendors in the Mount Waverley district, and I look forward to the minister’s response.