Benn Dorrington, Industry Editor and Analyst
First published 28 Oct 2026, 4:53pm
Home sellers in New South Wales will have to share a sale price or price guide when advertising their properties from as early as mid-November in a bid to stamp out underquoting.
NSW joins Victoria on this price transparency move, meaning more than half of Australia’s population now needs to share a sale price or price guide on their property listing.
The NSW state government passed the sale price reform and other underquoting changes through the parliament earlier this year. It is understood the new price disclosure rules could take effect from as early as mid-November, however a NSW Fair Trading spokesperson said the changes were expected to start later in 2026.
Lack of pricing persists as the top pain point for buyers, with seven in 10 home seekers in Australia frustrated by a lack of pricing on property listings, according to a 2026 survey in realestate.com.au's latest Property Seeker report.
As a result, four in five respondents were more likely to skip over properties without a price.
The changes come as home sellers and real estate agents face a softening property market in Sydney, where the capital city’s median home price has fallen 5% compared to a year ago, according to the latest realestate.com.au Home Price Index .
The state’s peak real estate body, the Real Estate Institute of NSW (REINSW), has warned that the new sale price disclosure laws will deliver little benefit to home buyers or sellers.
REINSW general manager Aaron Barber said the new laws simply added another layer of administration to the process.
New home selling price rules are coming to NSW later this year. Picture: Getty
“Let’s be clear: these changes are about politics, not policy,” Mr Barber said.
“Sellers and buyers will experience little, if any, impact. Agents already use comparable sales to estimate an approximate sale price for a property but it is an inexact science, because a purchaser is free to make their best offer for any property they’re interested in.”
Here’s an explanation of the changes starting later this year and how they impact home sellers and buyers in NSW.
Under the new laws, real estate agents will have to consider the sold prices of comparable properties when it comes to forming an estimated selling price or price guide.
The estimated selling price will have to be a reasonable estimate of the likely sale price of the property.
The new rules will impact sellers and agents in Sydney and throughout the rest of the state. Picture: Getty
Real estate agents will also have to prepare a statement of information (SOI) on properties they are selling on behalf of their vendors, with the new rules set to start from early 2027.
The SOI will be a standardised form provided by the NSW government and will contain important information about the property and comparable sales.
Home sellers and real estate agents will need to include an SOI when advertising a home for sale on property listing platforms such as realestate.com.au, as well as channels.
The SOI will need to be shown in a prominent place at inspections and agents will be required to provide a copy of the SOI to buyers within two business days if they request it or a copy of the contract.
Vendors and agents will need to share a price or price guide on property listings when the new rules take effect. Picture: Getty
However, home sellers won’t have to share a price or price guide on real-life for sale signs next to properties.
There are also numerous limits to advertised selling prices. Agents will be prohibited from advertising or representing selling prices for homes that are lower than the agent's estimated selling price.
Agents will be banned from advertising selling prices that are lower than the highest bid that the agent knows, or ought reasonably to know, that was made by a registered bidder at an auction at which the property was passed‑in
Additionally, agents will be prohibited from advertising selling prices lower than a written offer to purchase the property that the agent knows, or ought reasonably to know, that was rejected by the seller only for the reason that the amount offered was too low.
For home sellers and agents who are advertising a price range, the lowest price in the range cannot be lower than any of those above amounts.
Agents who break the new underquoting rules will face maximum court-imposed penalties of $110,000, or three times the agent's commission, whichever is higher.
Additionally, not complying with the new statement of information rules may incur penalties up to $27,500.
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