First Reading

Bill introduced on motion by Mr Anoulack Chanthivong, read a first time and printed.

Second Reading Speech

Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG (Macquarie Fields—Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology, Minister for Building, and Minister for Corrections) (15:58): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I am pleased to introduce the Property and Stock Agents Amendment (Underquoting and Other Agent Conduct) Bill 2026. We know that families are under pressure in these uncertain times. Being underquoted on a home is not only frustrating and demoralising; it is also a waste of people's valuable time and hard-earned money. The Minns Labor Government's message is clear. We have heard the message from home buyers and our focus is clear: a fairer property market that works for everyone.

The Government is committed to improving protections for consumers in the property market, particularly as we work to increase housing supply. This bill forms part of the broader reform agenda, complementing recent improvements to strata laws, building quality and rental security. Underquoting undermines trust in the real estate industry and misleads consumers about property prices. It causes consumers to repeatedly pursue properties they never had a realistic chance of purchasing. Underquoting occurs when agents advertise or make representations about the price of residential property for less than the estimated selling price set out in the agreement that they have with the vendor. I will also refer to underquoting as the practice of agents underestimating the likely selling price of a property in their agreement, which then allows agents to advertise and make representations at a lower price.

At the heart of a fair and functioning property market is transparent pricing, yet too many buyers and agents tell us that this is still falling short. Many agents have reported feeling pressured to underquote to remain competitive. Consumers also express frustration with property advertisements that do not include a price, forcing them to contact agents unnecessarily. Buyers expect transparency, particularly when making one of the largest financial decisions of their lives. The bill addresses those issues by requiring agents to consider comparable sales when arriving at an estimated selling price or revising their estimated selling price, and to do so in accordance with the requirements in the regulations and guidelines; advertise a price or price range on all properties; prepare and provide a statement of information to prospective buyers with pricing information relevant to the property; and update the price in their advertisements to reflect the latest estimated selling price in the agreement, a rejected offer, or the highest bid at an auction where the property was passed in.

Further, the bill increases penalties for underquoting and other high-risk offences, expands Fair Trading's disciplinary tools and improves the continued professional development framework to ensure high standards for training providers and ongoing compliance by agents. The Government is managing the economy responsibly, confronting long-term challenges and investing in the State's future. This starts by laying strong brickwork and restoring buyers' trust in the property sector, because Labor offers the right plan and the steady leadership that the people of New South Wales deserve and that those opposite cannot and did not deliver.

I now turn to the details of the bill. One of the drivers of underquoting is the lack of prescription for how real estate agents estimate the likely selling price of a residential property. Currently, real estate agents are required to include an estimate of the likely selling price of a residential property in the agency agreement. The estimate must be reasonable and remain reasonable. However, some agents exploit the lack of prescription in the law and underestimate the likely selling price of properties in their agency agreement. For example, agents may cherrypick outdated or non-comparable sales to justify their low estimated selling price in the agency agreement. To stop this type of behaviour, the bill requires agents to take into account the sold prices of comparable properties when determining or revising their estimated selling price in accordance with requirements that will be set out in the regulations and/or guidelines.

The bill also includes regulation-making power to prescribe how a real estate agent must determine or revise the estimated selling price. The regulations and/or guidelines will set out how comparable properties must be identified and assessed, ensuring they are recent, relevant and similar. Agents will be required to use comparable properties within a defined location and time frame and to choose the most comparable based on specific attributes, such as property type, condition, size and features. Agents should already be taking into account comparable properties. However, the bill makes it an explicit consideration, with significant penalties applying to agents if they do not comply. This reform aims to make it harder for agents to underestimate the likely selling price of a residential property in the agreement by introducing further prescription into the law.

The bill also introduces a new requirement for agents to prepare a statement of information which provides prospective buyers with pricing information relevant to the property for sale. The statement of information is proposed to include information such as the median suburb sale price and the comparable sales that the agent took into account to determine their estimated selling price in the agreement. The regulations will set out when the statement must be updated. The statement must be given to prospective buyers within two business days if they request the statement or the contract for sale. It must also be displayed prominently at the property when it is open to members of the public for inspection and be linked to online advertising. The statement of information gives buyers a concise snapshot of pricing information relevant to the property and saves buyers time in searching comparable sales in an already challenging housing market.

There is another reform in the bill which makes it harder for agents to exploit the law. The bill will require agents to keep records to justify their estimated selling price. One of the obstacles that Fair Trading encounters in enforcing the existing underquoting laws is the inconsistent record-keeping practices of some agents. While some keep thorough contemporary records, others rely on little more than handwritten notes or broad references to "market feedback" to justify their estimated selling price and any revisions.

Although an agent may be required to provide evidence of the reasonableness of their estimated selling price to Fair Trading, there are no express requirements in the law for agents to keep records of the information they relied on or how they reached the estimated selling price or revised estimated selling price. This also leaves room for retrospective justification of an unreasonably low estimate and makes it difficult to prove that an agent has underquoted. In response, this bill introduces a regulation-making power to prescribe the records an agent must keep in relation to determining or revising the estimated selling price. This could include the agent's reasons for why the estimate is reasonable and the evidence that the agent considered. With obligations to keep better records, consider comparable properties and provide more information to buyers, the bill aims to make it harder for agents to underquote and provides more transparency to buyers.

I have talked about how the bill will impose greater obligations on agents to produce realistic selling price estimates and, in turn, ensure advertisements reflect this. I will now turn to a reform that seeks to address another central frustration for buyers, and that is the widespread use of advertisements that include no pricing information. Too many listings use vague terms, such as "contact agent", "price on application", or "expressions of interest", forcing buyers to call agents or attend inspections simply to discover whether the property is in their price range. This bill requires every residential property advertisement to include a selling price. The advertised selling price may be expressed as a single price or a price range.

Only limited advertisements such as a "for sale" sign at the front of the property will be exempt. Other exceptions may be set out in the regulations. However, if an agent chooses to include an advertised selling price on a "for sale" sign or other exempted advertisement, the price will need to comply with the advertising rules. This change will deliver immediate benefits to buyers by improving price transparency and reducing time wasted on contacting agents about a property's advertised selling price or attending inspections for properties that ultimately end up being outside of their budget.

The bill also strengthens how advertised prices must be managed throughout a sales campaign to ensure they remain realistic and up to date for buyers. When the advertised selling price is less than indications from buyers that they are willing to pay more, that is underquoting the likely selling price of the property. In response, the bill will prohibit an advertised selling price that is lower than the agent's estimated selling price, the highest bid passed in at auction or a written offer rejected by the seller solely because the price was too low. This rule also applies to representations made by agents during marketing.

Further, online advertisements must be updated or removed within one business day of the agent's estimated selling price changing or the property being passed in at auction or a seller rejecting a written offer because the amount offered was too low. Other advertisements must be updated or removed as soon as practicable after these events occurring. These reforms ensure that advertised prices are anchored in real‑time accuracy. Buyers should have confidence that advertisements and representations about the advertised selling price of a residential property are a realistic reflection of the likely selling price and are not misleading.

All of the reforms I have spoken about are backed by significant penalties. Agents who do not comply with their obligations in relation to their estimated selling price in the agreement, advertising or representations during marketing will face a maximum court-imposed penalty of $110,000 or three times the agent's commission, whichever is greater. This is an increase from the current penalty of $22,000, which is generally less than the amount an agent receives in commission. Penalties of up to $27,500 will also apply for not complying with the Statement of Information requirements. The higher penalties are necessary to deter agents from noncompliance and to ensure that penalties are not seen as the cost of doing business. As a result, underquoting will no longer be a wise business strategy.

The Minns Labor Government is doing what is right, not what is easy. We are delivering on what we promised because cracking down on underquoting means tackling the problem, not avoiding it. We want irresponsible operators to know that they will be caught if they are doing the wrong thing. As a result, the bill also introduces other changes that strengthen Fair Trading's enforcement and disciplinary powers as well as enhancing the existing continuing professional development framework. These changes apply to all agents and assistant agents, including real estate agents, strata managing agents, and stock and station agents, and are not limited to underquoting offences.

First, the bill will increase the maximum court‑imposed penalties for a range of high‑risk offences, such as dummy bidding at auctions, working as an agent unlicensed, misrepresentations, obstruction and mishandling of trust moneys. For example, the penalty for an agent inducing someone into a contract through a misleading statement or promise will increase from $22,000 to $110,000. The penalty for corporations that engage in dummy bidding or collude at auctions will increase from $55,000 to $110,000. The corporation penalty for mishandling trust money will increase from $11,000 to $110,000. These increases will ensure that penalties are not seen as the cost of doing business and are a deterrent to misconduct.

Secondly, the bill gives the regulator the power to take additional forms of disciplinary action against agents and assistant agents. The bill adds to the list of disciplinary actions available to Fair Trading. They include requiring a person to publicise their breach, such as by placing a sign in the agency window or sending a letter to other agents in the area about a breach; requiring a person to verify their estimated selling price with an independent valuer or the licensee in charge, without costs being passed on to the vendor; suspending a person from conducting certain functions under their licence, such as sale activities; requiring the person to provide an indemnity to the Property Services Compensation Fund, or requiring the person to pay a monetary penalty, which is also being increased, to the Property Services Compensation Fund or Statutory Interest Account instead of consolidated revenue. The additional disciplinary actions will give Fair Trading more tools to deter and target misconduct. Fair Trading takes a proportionate response to enforcement, depending on the offence and the circumstances of the case.

Thirdly, the bill empowers Fair Trading to approve one or more standard forms of agency agreement. Currently, the forms may be prescribed in the regulations. This reform makes it easier for Fair Trading to develop and approve a standard form of agency agreement that must be used. Fourthly, the bill creates an offence for impersonating an officer with a penalty of $110,000 under the Fair Trading Act 1987. Fifth, the bill will reform the existing continuing professional development framework. It provides that Fair Trading can approve a provider to deliver continuing professional development training. The regulations will be able to set out the provider approval framework instead of that being set out in unenforceable guidelines.

The regulations also will set out eligibility requirements, conditions of approval, Fair Trading's power to suspend or cancel a provider's approval, and Fair Trading's ability to impose conditions on a training provider. If a training provider does not comply with their conditions of approval, a maximum court imposed fine of $11,000 may apply. This approval framework is a mechanism for increasing the standards of training providers through continuing professional development. The bill also introduces a maximum court penalty of up to $11,000 for agents who do not comply with their professional training obligations. Training improves professional standards and helps to ensure that agents stay current with their requirements and changes to the sector.

Lastly, the bill also introduces a new regulatory tool for Fair Trading to direct an agent to undertake further education or training for minor breaches and lower‑risk offences instead of issuing a penalty infringement notice. The changes in the bill are a major step forward in restoring trust and transparency in the New South Wales property market. I point out that it is very easy for the Opposition to call for changes when they are no longer in government. They had 12 years to strengthen underquoting laws and did not have the guts to actually do it. Do not listen to what they say; look at what they do—or, in that case, what they did not do. It has taken a Minns Labor Government to pursue responsible and tangible reform to prepare our State's housing market for the future. Buying a home is one of the most significant financial decisions a person will ever make, and every buyer deserves clear and realistic information about the selling price of a property. They should not have to waste their time, their money, or their hope on properties that were never genuinely within their reach.

I take this opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed to the development of this bill: Real Estate Institute of New South Wales, the Australian Livestock and Property Agents Association, the Strata Community Association (NSW), the Australian Property Institute, Domain, the REA Group, the Real Estate Buyers Agents Association of Australia, the Australian Resident Accommodation Manager's Association, and the many stakeholders representing real estate agencies, buyer's agents and training providers. I have appreciated their thoughtful and considered engagement with this bill.

While in government, those opposite failed the people of New South Wales by letting underquoting fester. Their leadership, or rather the lack of leadership, was unable to commit to policies that would have restored trust in the property sector, helped first time buyers enter the market, and increased quality housing supply. But the Minns Labor Government is pulling all the levers needed to build more homes and improve the property sector. The Minns Labor Government promised action to crack down on underquoting and this bill delivers on that commitment. These reforms are a significant step forward in protecting homebuyers from unscrupulous real estate agents who take advantage of a tight housing market. This is the right plan that we need to build a better New South Wales. I commend the bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.