Wednesday, 13 August 2025

Housing affordability

Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (10:43): I move:

That this house, in accordance with standing order 10.01, requires the Leader of the Government to table in the Council, within 60 days of the house agreeing to this resolution, the final report of the property market review commissioned by the then Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation in 2022.

The short-form documents motion I am putting before us today is very straightforward and, quite frankly, should not be contentious. I would expect that everyone in this chamber would be interested to know what is contained in the property market review from 2022. At a time when the housing crisis looms and a whole generation of people are locked out of home ownership, this property market review could provide some very useful insights into the levers available to government that the Labor government could be engaging with to ensure that people in our state have fairer and easier access to the housing market per the intentions of the document. That was the plan, and so it is time that we see what is actually in this document.

The intention of the review was to examine how our laws could be improved to make housing more affordable and accessible in Victoria, but the government has been sitting on it for years as housing prices continue, as we have seen, to rise and rampant underquoting has fast become Melbourne’s worst kept secret. It can be a soul-destroying process, trying to buy your first home. I have been written to directly by constituents about this matter, week after week – they are getting their hopes up and then having them dashed when a place immediately jumps beyond their budget, even though it was advertised as affordable for them. Every weekend first home buyers and renters are trying to buy. Young families are spending their days inspecting properties, working out what they want and what they can afford. Even before they attend an auction people are pouring money into inspections and into legal fees for houses they never had a chance of securing. The system is gamed to benefit real estate agents and to keep house prices all the higher. Househunting is stressful enough without wasting the time, the energy and the money pinning your hope on a home that you should have known you could not actually afford if it was set properly.

The property market review was intended to specifically look at consumer protections when it comes to underquoting, amongst other things, and in some suburbs in Melbourne right now nine out of 10 homes are selling way above the price guide. In Clifton Hill 61 per cent of tracked sales went over the agents’ highest guide prices, and in Richmond one property sold $450,000 over the guide. Real estate agents need to disclose the reserve price when advertising a property. It is the only way that people can genuinely know if they have a chance and can actually afford a place. Without this, the cruel game of watching house after house sell for way more than you can actually afford week after week will just continue.

Preparing to bid at an auction takes time and effort, aside from the fact that you have to like the house enough to want to commit many hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy it in the first place. Finding an affordable house, choosing it as one you are prepared to buy, preparing your finances, having the place assessed, having it inspected and then turning up at the auction full of hope and expectation: it is a lot – and then it sells for $100,000 over your budget. The next weekend the same happens, and you continue this process for months, not sure if you will even manage to find somewhere. That is not fair to put Victorians through.

We need to change the system to make it more transparent by clearly displaying reserve prices and introduce stronger penalties for dodgy real estate agents who continue to underquote. My guess is, this document not having been provided thus far, the property market review will likely support this position and potentially have further suggestions to address underquoting and other barriers that first home buyers face when it comes to buying a home. It is an important document, hopefully not a contentious one to be released to the Parliament, and one that could provide some very useful information on ways to fix parts of our broken housing system. I hope for the chamber’s support today and look forward to reading what is contained in the report.

Ryan BATCHELOR (Southern Metropolitan) (10:47): I am pleased to rise to speak on Mr Puglielli’s motion seeking a copy of the 2022 property market review final report commissioned by the then Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation. I will say at the outset that Mr Puglielli made a number of comments about the housing market, and I absolutely agree that we need to do all that we can to make sure that all Victorians, particularly younger Victorians, have the chance to buy a home. I have said a lot of times in the chamber before, though, that the only way we are going to fix the housing crisis is to build more homes. I do not disagree that this review is important, but to get to the nub of the problem here, it is Victorians being priced out of the housing market. We fix that with more supply, because that is what is going to bring down the pressure on prices. That is what is going to help make sure that all Victorians have the chance to buy a home in the suburbs that they love, and that is why this government is absolutely focused on unlocking more supply of homes, building more homes from the inner city to the outer suburbs and everywhere in between. That is what is going to make the biggest difference to making sure that all Victorians can afford to buy a home.

This motion is seeking access to a document that was handed to the government just shy of three years ago relating to a review of the property market in 2022. I am sure it contains many things that were valuable to the government in informing the policy development that has occurred since it was handed to us back in 2022, because this government in the last nearly three years, 2½ years, has undertaken significant reform, initiated significant reform, to make sure we have got the homes Victorians need. You cannot accuse the government of not being focused on housing, on the housing market and on housing supply in the last 2½ years, despite attempts by others to frustrate that agenda. This government has focused on housing. Some of the particular issues that we have dealt with and that have been absolutely informed by this review include the underquoting taskforce that has been out on the streets of Melbourne, in particular, trying to stamp out the insidious practice of underquoting. We know that it is unfair – we know that it is deeply unfair – and that taskforce is having results. It is having an effect on making sure that the practice is stamped out. It is out on Saturdays at auctions, sending a very clear message to real estate agents that the practice is unacceptable, and those that are caught are facing tough penalties.

The trial of the underquoting taskforce was such a success it is now a permanent part of Consumer Affairs Victoria. We know that it is good and we know that it is working because the other states are now copying our homework, as they often do, because Victoria leads the way in so many areas. New South Wales is copying Victoria. It has issued more than $2 million in fines since it was launched in September 2022. It has monitored nearly 2500 sales campaigns. But it is not just about fines; it is about making the market fairer. We have increased penalties against agents each time they are caught underquoting and are expanding powers to confiscate commissions to cover all underquoting offences. Consumer Affairs Victoria late last year commenced civil proceedings in the Federal Court against agents for alleged misleading and deceptive conduct and making false and misleading statements in breach of the Australian Consumer Law, with very high penalties of up to $50 million, and in April this year we did similarly.

The report the Greens seek has been informing government policy, and you can absolutely say that the Allan Labor government has been acting to improve the housing market in Victoria.

Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (10:52): I rise in support of Mr Puglielli’s request for this document on the property market review. On the government’s own website it says the Victorian government conducted a review of the property market laws to ensure they best support fair and easy access to the housing market. The review examines consumer protections and property and protects prospective property buyers, including laws relating to underquoting and off-the-plan sales and real estate conduct. I agree that this is something that really should be provided to us.

As everyone in this chamber knows, the Victorian housing register now has over 66,000 families on the waitlist. Unfortunately, since the beginning of the Big Build that list has grown by 25 per cent. We are really in a housing crisis in this state, and it is a really important time for a document like this. I do not know why it has been hidden for almost three years and not shown, because it is a publicly funded document. It is something that was paid for by using taxpayer funds, and therefore it is in the public interest for them to be able to see it. Victoria is in the middle of a housing crisis and, like I said, since the start of the Big Build in 2022 the social housing waiting list has grown by 25 per cent. For those 66,000 families – and that list is growing – this is a serious issue. Our population is growing and our homelessness issue is, unfortunately, growing. I think this is the sort of motion that is about transparency and of course something that we are going to support.

I just want to read from an article in the Age that was published on 12 August this year, ‘Buried findings: real estate expert’s frustration at underquoting inaction’. I am just going to read from the first few paragraphs. It says:

A real estate industry stalwart commissioned to deliver advice on Victoria’s underquoting laws has called on the Allan government to release the unpublished recommendations …

His name was Enzo Raimondo, and he is the former head of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria. He was one of the two expert panellists that was appointed by the government to consider if the laws governing this state’s property market, including underquoting, needed to be improved.

However, the findings of the taxpayer-funded report were buried after its completion in 2022, and the government has repeatedly declined to explain to those who contributed … why it hasn’t released it.

This is what Enzo said:

I’m surprised it still hasn’t been released … but certainly it should be …

There’s a lot of work involved, and it would be a shame for it just to sit on a shelf and do nothing [but] collect dust.

I completely agree with his statements there. I think that in the middle of a housing crisis, where these lists are growing, we would like to see what is in this study and what we could be doing to improve the laws. I commend this motion to the house.

Sonja TERPSTRA (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (10:56): I rise also to make a contribution on this motion in Mr Puglielli’s name. It is a documents motion seeking the release of a report that was commissioned by the government into the property market in 2022. The government’s position is we are not opposing this documents motion, but I just want to make a few comments about the construct of the motion in regard to the some of the debate that has been going on. It is particularly about the housing market, but we know the housing market comprises rental properties and people who want to purchase properties but also people who might be seeking social and affordable housing or public housing. I guess the thing is, the report was commissioned in 2022, and what it did was look at the property market then. It is a snapshot of the property market in 2022. It is now 2025. Things would have changed by now.

I was just looking at some of the publicly available information about the sorts of profiles of people who are property investors. Despite what you may hear on 3AW, there is actually some factual information available – things like Australian Tax Office data, which shows that 20 per cent or thereabouts of Australians own an investment property but around 1 per cent of taxpayers of those 20 per cent own a quarter of all investment properties. Information also shows that where there are mum-and-dad investors, they might only own one or two properties, but they generally sell those properties within two years of purchasing them.

The other thing, which I think Mr Batchelor commented on as well, is that one of the ways that you actually take pressure out of the housing market is to increase supply, which is exactly what this government is doing. We are building more homes across a range of areas, whether that is public housing or social and affordable housing. There is housing for workers that is being built and then just affordable housing. So looking at a range of ways to increase the housing supply is what we are doing.

In regard to this review of the property market, one of the things that came out of it was the underquoting taskforce. This was something that was stood up to address some of the things that Mr Puglielli has talked about in terms of agents and their behaviour around selling of properties. I know Mr Batchelor went to this, but it is important again to emphasise this and put this on the record. A taskforce was stood up to look at underquoting by real estate agents. There was first a trial that was initiated as a result of that review. That trial was so successful the government decided to keep that taskforce going, and it is a permanent enforcement arm of Consumer Affairs Victoria. New South Wales has in fact followed our lead on that as well. Since the taskforce was stood up it has cracked down on noncompliance with our laws on underquoting and has issued over $2 million in fines. Since it was launched in September 2022 it has received more than 3900 complaints from consumers, monitored over 2440 sales campaigns embarked upon by agents, attended 250 auctions and issued 185 fines totalling more than $2 million. That just shows that the government was serious about taking action on underquoting in regard to agents.

The other part that I think is quite interesting is that in October 2024 Consumer Affairs Victoria commenced civil proceedings in the Federal Court against Ray White Oakleigh for alleged misleading and deceptive conduct and making false and misleading statements in breach of Australian consumer law. That is important because some of the things that were advertised related to the condition of certain rental properties and the rent that was charged for them, and the rental properties were allegedly not consistent with the laws about what should be available to rent. So again, in April 2025 CAV commenced disciplinary proceedings against Nicholas Scott Real Estate after an investigation identified multiple alleged breaches of underquoting laws involving 11 properties. So in that short period of time, as you can see, the underquoting taskforce has indeed been very busy. The government has sought to stand that up in response to the review of the property market. The government has appropriately resourced that taskforce in order for it to do the work that it needs to do and be a tough cop on the beat where it has been made aware of behaviour by agents in terms of underquoting. I would just recommend, rather than debating a motion in the house and looking at more documents yet again, that perhaps we could encourage people to make complaints to the underquoting taskforce.

Motion agreed to.